Chatham Township, New Jersey has officially opened the new 136-acre “Giralda Farms Park” to the public, a great example of repurposes a property to preserve public green space.
The official name is Giralda Farms Park at Loantaka Brook Reservation. “It’s so unusual for the park to open on the day you’re celebrating it,” Terrence Nolan of the Open Space Institute said. “I’ve been involved in over 30 purchases of Open Space, but never one as significant or as beautiful. It was also one of the more complicated.”
The $14 million purchase was brokered by Normandy Real Estate Partners, who, in turn, sold the 136 acres to Chatham Township. The Morris County Preservation Trust provided $10 million towards the purchase. No federal money was involved.