Monte Irvin Orange Park

French & Parrello Associates (FPA) was retained by Essex County to help rehabilitate and restore key areas of Monte Irvin Orange Park, honoring the park’s original design by the Olmsted Brothers while enhancing the space for today’s community. The original design incorporated a northern and southern garden, a pond, and open fields for active and passive activities. Overtime, the gardens had become overgrown and had been eliminated. The County wished to restore the gardens, rehabilitate the pond, accentuate the entrances to the park, restore the softball fields, and incorporate site lighting along the main walkway.

FPA prepared construction documents to restore the northern and southern gardens to reflect the original design by the Olmstead Brothers, and reached out to the Rutgers Gardens for assistance in selecting low maintenance planting. FPA’s design also incorporated accent gateways at each entrance, featuring a 24-foot aluminum arch with the park’s name, “Monte Irvin Orange Park,” routed into the panel. The arch rests on two 8-foot cultured stone columns, finished with a veneer chosen to match the stone features already present in the park. The FPA project team recommended the installation of a subsurface aeration system for the existing pond, redesigned the softball backstops, and incorporated ornamental site lighting throughout.

FPA also provided the design of complete mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. The mechanical systems included high-efficiency VRF heat pump systems, ductless split heat pumps, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), electric heating equipment, and associated controls to provide energy-efficient heating, cooling, and ventilation throughout the facility. The electrical scope included the design of normal power distribution, lighting, receptacles, equipment connections, and associated control systems. The plumbing scope included domestic water, sanitary waste and vent systems, plumbing fixtures, water heating, condensate drainage, and associated piping systems. All MEP systems were designed in accordance with applicable building, energy, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and accessibility codes to provide a safe, reliable, energy-efficient facility.