By JF Grodeska
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Atlantic Highlands is looking to honor its first woman mayor by naming a borough park after her. Helen Marchetti became mayor in 1984 and served until 1988. She died Sept. 19, 2023, at the age of 98, after living in Atlantic Highlands her entire life.
On April 16, the borough presented plans to expand Center Avenue Park, located near Wagner’s Beach and the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club, into Helen Marchetti Park.
The meeting was “informational” and “nonbinding,” explained Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, adding that the presentation showing what the park could eventually look like was both “imaginary and hopeful.”
Fran Reiner, a professional planner and landscape architect with DMR Architects of Hasbrouck Heights, delivered the presentation, based on two previous public workshops during which residents and Catamaran Club members were encouraged to express ideas for the potential park’s features.
The park will be expanded through a parcel of property deeded to the borough from Denholtz Properties, developer of Brant Point on the adjacent waterfront property. According to the drawings, the existing small soccer field will remain and more parking spaces will be added. Enhancements currently include two large grassy areas with wall seating, a tree-covered area with a path with seating and walkways with benches. Stairs for access to Wagner’s Beach will also be included.
However, Reiner explained that Denholtz has placed a number of caveats on the land it intends to convey to the borough.
“There are deep restrictions that are on that piece of land and those include that daytime gatherings are only allowed until half an hour past sundown. No amplified music is permitted without a permit. No storage or boats or equipment and no parking of vehicles in that area. The borough will maintain the landscape,” he said.
Additionally, Denholtz will not convey the land necessary for the park to the borough until the town issues the first Certificate of Occupation for the Brant Point development.
The proposed park plan has not been formally reviewed by the mayor and council, and there is currently no funding for the project. Hohenleitner believes it will take several years to complete the park from its conceptual stage.
As residents and Catamaran Club members continue to weigh in, the park will likely evolve, taking on different features throughout its development.
Wagner’s Beach has a rich and somewhat storied history. In the 1920s, prohibition agents claimed Wagner’s Beach was the No. 1 landing place for a large percentage of the illegal alcohol distributed throughout the state of New Jersey.
In the 1960s, it was Atlantic Highlands’ public beach, complete with lifeguards. In the 1970s, neighborhood children played pick-up baseball and softball on a homemade field with an old shipping pallet as a backstop.
In the 1980s, the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club leased some of the property and became custodians of Wagner’s Beach. Members meticulously keep the beach clear of flotsam, performing a service to their neighbors who visit the beach.
The article originally appeared in the April 25 – May 1, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
