West New York Has Built Everything Around Miller Park Except the Building. October 30 Starts the Last Piece

On Friday, October 30, the town's Fall Festival lines up in costume at Town Hall, 428 60th Street, at 4:30 p.m. and parades down to Miller Park at 5800 Jackson Street. Trunk or Treat, bouncy houses, candy and music start there at 5 p.m. Two and a half hours before the lineup, in the Town Clerk's Office in that same building, the Board of Commissioners is scheduled to open sealed bids for the "West New York Recreation Center Construction."

The parade ends about a block from the planned site. The town has already finished the stadium, the park and most of the outdoor pieces around it. What's still missing is the one part that would work in January, and Friday afternoon is the first time contractors put a price on it.

Stadium First, Park Second, Building Last

The complex around Miller Park was built from the outside in. The Jersey Journal reported in August 2024 that the town spent $4 million on Miller Stadium in 2019 and $4.3 million on Miller Park the year before that report. The paper said the stadium, the park and the planned center together would cover 6.2 acres from Jefferson to Madison streets between 57th and 59th streets.

Here is the order the pieces have come in:

1. 2019: Miller Stadium renovated for $4 million.
2. 2023: Miller Park upgraded for $4.3 million. The town's park directory now lists a basketball court, playground, splash park, dog park, mini soccer field and community garden there.
3. August 2026: The Board awarded Adamo Brothers Construction a contract of up to $355,000 for a new volleyball court at Miller Park. Three bids came in.
4. October 30, 2026: Construction bids open for the recreation center.

That's roughly $8.3 million of outdoor upgrades in place, plus a court under contract. Every finished piece is open air. The planned center, with its pool, courts and indoor track, is the part that would carry the complex through winter. Its bid package is available from CPA Architecture at 6401 Park Avenue, where contractors pay $75 for it on a flash drive.

What the Police Lot Is Supposed to Become

The site is the police-vehicle parking lot east of Miller Stadium, near 58th and Madison streets. The town has also put three Madison Street buildings out to bid for demolition to prepare the site: 5715, 5717 and 5801 Madison. That notice from July 2026 asks for demolition and asbestos abatement, and gives the contractor 90 calendar days after notice to proceed. A March 2025 bond ordinance had already set aside money to buy and clean up 5801 and 5715 Madison.

Two outlets described the building's contents when the plan was unveiled in 2024. Their lists overlap but don't match:

Hudson County View described the building as five stories and 60,000 square feet. The town's own most recent description is shorter. A resolution in the Board's December 17, 2025 meeting minutes calls it a 60,000-square-foot Municipal Recreation Center "with a swimming pool, gymnasium, fitness areas, and multipurpose community spaces." The pool, gym and fitness space all appear in that December 2025 description. The batting cages and golf simulators appear only in the 2024 renderings, so they should be treated as part of the announced plan, not the final design.

A Town Without a Rec Building Since the Old Ice Rink

The reason the indoor piece matters so much is how long the town has gone without one. According to the Jersey Journal, the last dedicated recreation center stood at 57th Street and Broadway. It was torn down and replaced by the current middle school, which has hosted the recreation department's indoor activities since it opened in 2004. Mayor Albio Sires told the paper that the old building "had a hole in it," and added, "It was an old ice rink and inside was a low ceiling and wood beams across everywhere."

The same article said the new building would give the town its own dedicated recreation center for the first time in more than 30 years. In Hudson County View's coverage, a recreation official said the pool would let the department "finally start the swim team we're looking to do for rec." That piece also mentioned a rec track team of more than 100 runners and a basketball team waiting on the new facility.

The school connection still runs in both directions. The December 2025 resolution sets up a shared services agreement that lets the West New York Board of Education use the new facility for practices, sporting events and after-school programs for up to 30 years. In exchange, the district contributes $5 million toward construction. For about two decades, town recreation programs borrowed school space. Under this plan, school programs would share the town's space.

The Money Trail Since 2024

The 2024 price was $35 million. Hudson TV reported the mayor's description of federal, state, private and already-allocated municipal funding, with no additional taxpayer dollars. The Jersey Journal gave a more detailed split. It put $10 million on taxpayers, $5 million each from the town and the school district, and $25 million from outside sources. The paper listed those outside sources as a $3.5 million federal grant, $9 million from the state and $9 million from a public-private partnership. Those three figures add up to $21.5 million, which is $3.5 million short of the $25 million the article named.

The partnership was described in 2024 as a developer paying the town for air rights to build high-rises over two planned parking decks, one at 58th and Madison and one at 66th and Park Avenue. Since then, the funding record has grown in smaller steps:

• March 2025: A bond ordinance set aside $5,557,550 for land acquisition and early planning, design and permitting, and authorized up to $5,279,672 in bonds or notes.
• December 2025: The Board's agenda included a resolution to apply for New Jersey DCA's FY26 Local Recreation Improvement Grant for construction. The school district's $5 million was tied to the shared services resolution at that same meeting.
• September 2026: The Board's agenda listed a Hudson County Community Development Block Grant application and acceptance of an award for the Community Recreation Center. The agenda title gives no amount.

None of these records restates the $35 million total. Friday's bids will be the first public prices for the building itself.

Why Friday's Bid Opening Matters

This is the second try. The first construction bid was posted August 14, 2026, with bids due September 22. The opening was pushed to September 29, and then the bid was canceled on September 25. The notice gives no reason. A new notice went up September 29. Its page header shows an October 28 due date, but the formal notice to bidders sets the opening for October 30 at 2 p.m. The formal notice also says the town may reject any and all bids.

The 2024 schedule called for construction to start in spring 2025 and finish in early 2026. That schedule has passed, and no new completion date has been published. Once bids are opened, the next steps on the public record would be a Board resolution awarding a contract and then a notice to proceed.

Another big project is moving through the same process, which makes it easy to confuse the two. The town is also bidding a parking garage "on 54th Street." It's funded by its own bond authorizations, $10.5 million adopted in December 2025 plus $5 million added in March 2026. That garage's first bid was also canceled, on September 28, and its rebid opens November 5. The garage is a different project at a different location from the 58th and Madison deck in the 2024 rec center plan, and town records don't link the two.

So Friday's 2 p.m. bid opening at Town Hall comes a couple of hours before the Ragamuffin Parade heads down to Miller Park. Trick-or-treaters will walk past the stadium and park the town has already rebuilt, toward the police lot at 58th and Madison where the indoor piece is planned.

At Alena Ciccarelli, we follow projects like the Miller Park complex block by block because they change what a West New York address offers year-round. If you'd like to know how the blocks around 58th and Madison are positioned as this work moves forward, we'd be glad to arrange a viewing and walk the neighborhood with you.