NJ park to get $2 million renovation helping local high school

PATERSON, N.J. - One look at this court and it may seem not even a ghost has played here in a while, But these are the courts that Eastside High School, the Ghosts, play on.

Head coach Nana Agyeman says the only choice they've had up to this point was to play here, or not have a program.

"The net posts are in very poor condition, it's not in regulation height at all because they are warped and bent," said Agyeman. "At one point we literally had to use a weed whacker to cut down some of the grass and shrubs and things like that that's growing in the cracks of the court."

He says when the team travels to other schools, it's easy to envy nicer courts.

"My students, they see the difference in the facilities and things like that," said Agyeman. 

But their court is about to bounce back, thanks to a $2 million project to fix up Eastside Park.

"Having a place like [that] for them to play for them, designed for them, will give them confidence to want to push themself and learn more and take it to the next level," said Agyeman.

"I can't underscore that enough - this is the Central Park of Paterson," said Mayor Andre Sayegh.

On Friday, officials announced the plans to give the park an overhaul from the ground up. Aside from newly paved roads through the park, the city will be installing a cricket field across from a cricket clubhouse. To go along with that, the historic steps of Eastside Park -something out of a 'Rocky' movie, and a popular place to work out will also be re-done once the tennis court is complete.

"We're trying to become a tourist destination," said Sayegh, "but we also want to become more neighborhood friendly as far as our parks are concerned."

Paterson officials say work on the tennis courts will begin as soon as the last week in August.