Come and enjoy a great evening with our friends and neighbors! We’ll be pouring some of New Jersey Beer Company’s great beers, and wines from Central Avenue Wines, both generously gifted! We’ll also be grilling up sausages, served up with sides. We have a great location at Concordia Learning Center, right across Summit Avenue from the Reservoir. The space opens up to the outdoors, so we’ll have great fun, rain or shine!

What: Reservoir Spring Beer Garden
When: Saturday, April 27, 2013 – 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Where: CONCORDIA LEARNING CENTER – 761 Summit Avenue – Across from the Reservoir in Jersey City Heights

Buy Tickets Now

Admission price includes tickets for beer & food!
Age 21 & over pays $35 ($40 at the door)
Age 13-20 pays $20 / 12 & under pays $12

Contact jcreservoir@gmail.com and “like” us on facebook for more info: Facebook.com/jcreservoir

“Join us for some beer and sausages for a good cause!”

Sponsors: New Jersey Beer Co. & Central Avenue Liquors

We’d also like to extend a big “Thanks!” to the volunteers who came out and helped make the day a success: The Fisherman’s Club: John, Bill, Carl, Glen, and the rest, Anna Tyburski (volunteer coordinator), Maggie Salemme, Nancy Garriga, Herman Hong, Contessa Iannitelli, Abraham Garcia, and Melissa Gordon.

Also, thanks to our sponsors for the day: Jersey City Department of Recreation and Andy Gray and the Jersey City Risk Management who underwrote our boating insurance.

If you’ve got more pics, share them with us at www.facebook.com/jcreservoir

The announcement was made this morning, March 19, 2012. The auditorium at PS 28 was filled with students who thought they were there to listen to an Earth Day speaker. But then Christiane Maertens, Program Manager of the Disney Planet Challenge, came on stage. At first she told the students that “Project Reservoir” was a Top 20 finalist and asked the 7th Graders to come up onto the stage. Then she introduced another guest. Her boss. Mickey Mouse! The auditorium erupted into cheers. He politely whispered into Christiane’s ear that she had made a mistake. He explained that they won the top prize and that they’d be going to Disney World!

As the DPC website explains, “Disney’s Planet Challenge™ (DPC) is a FREE, highly-acclaimed, project-based, environmental competition for elementary and middle school students all across the United States. The program inspires students to be good stewards of the environment and empowers them to make a difference in their school, at home and in their local communities. All of these goals are achieved, while teaching kids about science, conservation and positive ways to impact the planet.”

The students have been working on “Project Reservoir” since October 2011 when they visited the Reservoir. Over this period of time they have studied the plant and animal life, history, and their fellow-student’s interactions with nature. They built two aquaculture rooms. But why not let them tell you about all that:

But they haven’t just kept their knowledge private, they’ve launched a wonderful website to share what they’ve learned. Please visit the site and see all their amazing work. While you are there, why not leave a message congratulating the team.

The Reservoir Alliance has been so proud of these students and admired their work for some time. We were thrilled to be in attendance (along with several public officials and School Board representatives) to help surprise the students. They are an inspiration to us all. As one astute woman expressed this morning, “Remember, the Reservoir belongs to these students.” We couldn’t agree more. To the PS 28 student’s and faculty: Congratulations! Keep up the good work! And thank you for all you’ve done for the Reservoir!

Now, when I say 28, you say Challengers! 28…

In 2006, the City received a grant from the Hudson County Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund to prepare a Historic Structures Report. In 2009, a team led by John Milner Associates (JMA – Preservation Architects) and including Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (Landscape Architects), Weidlinger Associates (Engineers), and others, was selected through a competitive RFP process that received 19 proposals.

In May 2009, JMA began working on the project under the joint supervision of the City Division of Architecture and the Reservoir Alliance. Our goals for the project were: 1) Develop a Preservation Plan 2) Nominate the site to be included on the National and State Register of Historic Places 3) Conduct Site Analysis of conditions and 4) Develop a Preliminary Design Concept for improvements to the site while retaining the beauty and character of the Reservoir.

As we near completion of the project, we would like to update the community on our progress, findings, studies and plans that have come out of the project. This includes information included in the Historic Structures Report, Engineering Reports, Historic Register Nomination, and a conceptual design plan for future site improvements.

In attendance will be representatives from the City, Reservoir Alliance, John Milner Associates, and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

Download PDF Flyer

THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY FUNDS FROM THE HUDSON COUNTY OPEN SPACE TRUST FUND, ADMINISTERED BY THE HUDSON COUNTY DIVISION OF PLANNING, THOMAS A. DEGISE, COUNTY EXECUTIVE, AND THE BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS.

The Walt Disney Company has announced Christa McAuliffe School as the statewide winner of Disney Plant Challenge, a project-based learning environmental competition for classrooms across the United States. Disney Plant Challenge teaches kids about science and conservation while empowering them to make a positive impact on their communities and planet.

In their project, students at the Christa McAuliffe School in Jersey City have partnered with the Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance to raise awareness of Jersey City’s Reservoir # 3 and create activities for schools and community groups who use the Reservoir as a field trip site. Students visited the reservoir and researched some of the more popular and interesting species of plants, trees, and shrubs found there. Armed with that information, students created a replica of the reservoir in their school’s hallways, a brochure to promote the reservoir, and a scavenger hunt to test visitors’ knowledge of its flora and fauna. Fourth grader Darien Minyetty said:  “I had a really good time visiting the reservoir and learning about the plants that grow there.  It was fun to make the reservoir in our school, and to inform all the people of Jersey City about what a great hidden treasure the reservoir is.”

Students also created a website filled with links to their research about the reservoir’s history and the plants, animals, and fish that live there, https://sites.google.com/site/projectreservoir/home. The student-created website also contains audio recordings of the student’s research and a wiki where visitors to the site can post comments and questions. Students are testing the water from the reservoir for micro-organisms, providing a real world, “living classroom” for their studies.  “Our students are learning to be passionate, driven, and knowledgeable about the environment in which they live. Also, in these hard times, a place of serenity is much needed.  Reservoir #3 is that place.” said teacher Maria Smagalla. The project will continue throughout the spring months and will be expanded next year.

“The vision and energy here is amazing,” said Steven Latham, President of the Reservoir Alliance. “Using scientific research, writing, art, and internet technology, students have connected with Jersey City history and nature. This groundbreaking project will be a template for creating programs with other local schools, an important Alliance goal.”

To view pictures, please go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/jcreservoir/ChristaMcAuliffeSchool28ReservoirProject?feat=directlink

For more about this story, please see “Narrative: Project Reservoir.”

Steven Latham, president of the Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance, shared the history of the reservoir with us, noting that it was built in 1874, supplied water to Jersey City for almost a century, and finally ceased operations in the 1990s.  The site fell into disrepair until nature gradually reclaimed the area.  The original Egyptian Revival walls and Romanesque pump houses still stand, as a poignant reminder of our city’s past.  The Reservoir Preservation Alliance is working diligently to protect the reservoir from development, maintain the area as a natural retreat hidden away in the middle of the city, and promote the existence of the reservoir and the need to save the reservoir’s lake, meadow, and woods from destruction and misuse.  Within minutes of arriving, the Christa McAuliffe School knew we wanted to help.

Our students were astonished at the variety of flora and fauna that could be found tucked into the nooks and crannies of the reservoir.  Upon passing a wild apple tree, many just had to try one of the tart little fruits, amazed to realize that apples really did grow on trees.  Students mapped the location of numerous species of plants, trees, and shrubs, and noted the invasiveness of plants like ailanthus.   They stood at the water’s edge, took water samples to test for microorganisms back at school, and drank in the heady sight of the New York City skyline looming beyond the towering trees.  Our students fell in love with the reservoir that day.

Back at school, the fourth graders and the sixth graders quickly partnered up and began to research the species they discovered at the reservoir.  They became our very own “in house” experts who could teach you anything you wanted to know about the plants that grew in Reservoir # 3.  As the weather grew colder, and foot upon foot of snow fell on New Jersey, our visits to the reservoir had to be put on hold.  We figured, if we can’t go to the reservoir, we’d bring the reservoir to us, and set about recreating the reservoir in the first floor hallway of our school.  Students made 3D replicas of plants, trees, shrubs and even animals and posted their research nearby.  Various teams worked to survey the rest of the school to determine if they knew about the reservoir, create a scavenger hunt game designed to test a visitor’s knowledge of the wildlife of the reservoir, and, design a website containing an interactive map of the reservoir, complete with research pod casts recorded by our students.

And we’re not finished yet…with spring on its way, the students of the Christa McAuliffe School will once again be returning to the reservoir.  Our plan is to re-sample the waters to observe and analyze microbial changes.  We are sponsoring a Community Education day in June where our students will be stationed at each of “their” plants, ready to share their knowledge with the friends and neighbors.  We have embarked on a fundraising campaign to purchase signage for the reservoir; both at the entrance to proudly proclaim its existence, and at each of the plants we have identified and researched.  Our next step is to investigate the feasibility of curtailing and/or eliminating invasive species, and researching the sustainability of introducing native species that are not currently growing in the reservoir.

Jersey City’s Reservoir # 3 has been called the “hidden jewel” or the “hidden oasis” of Jersey City.  Not if the students of the Christa McAuliffe School, PS # 28 have anything to do with it.  Our goal is increase awareness of this unique natural resource among the people of Jersey City, develop curriculum and activities that can be used by schools throughout the city and county for on-site field trips, and assist the Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance with developing the reservoir as a haven for city residents.  With this project, we’re well on our way!