If you haven’t been inside it yet, you’re in for treat. Kearny’s Gunnel Oval, under renovation for quite some time, is on the verge of being complete — and the project is truly a magnificent feat of engineering and forward-thinking.
The moment one arrives, it’s clear Kearny is now home to one of the best recreation facilities in Hudson County and perhaps even in all of North Jersey.
Whether it’s fields for soccer or baseball, a regulation-size volleyball court, outdoor, handicap-accessible workout equipment, the enormous playground for children, the touchless restrooms, the snack bar, the skateboarding park, the energy-efficient new lighting, the picnic tables and more, the entire project represents years of hard work, incredible vision and a place where future generations will be able to play — and where the likelihood of flooding (think back to 2012 and Super Storm Sandy and what that did to the place) will be nothing but a memory of how things used to be.
And best of all, the taxpayer is not on the hook for 1¢ of the cost — grants funded everything.
So as the Town of Kearny prepares to reopen the oval, we tip our caps to everyone who played an integral role in seeing this project through.
Well done, one and all, for making it all happen, from start to finish.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.