VERONA, NJ — Refurbishment of Verona Park's playground is set to begin next month thanks to a state grant.

The New Jersey Department (DEP) recently awarded Essex County a $1.5 million matching grant award for park development -- part of a program that will provide close to $80.7 million in funding to local governments and nonprofit land trusts to acquire open space, develop parks and perform stewardship activities on parks in New Jersey.

In Essex County, improvements were recently completed at Weequahic Park, Glenfield Park and Cedar Grove Park. The next series of improvements will focus on Riverbank Park and Vailsburg Park, both located in Newark; Verona Park; Nutley'sYanticaw Park, Grover Cleveland Park, located in the Boroughs of Caldwell and Essex Fells; and other county parks as funding allows. Playground refurbishment is slated for Yanticaw, Verona, and Grover Cleveland Parks, while field house improvements are planned at Vailsburg Park and at Riverbank Park, the baseball field and stadium will be renovated.”

The Verona Park playground renovations are slated to begin in September and be completed by next spring.