New Turf, Playground, and Dog Park For All to Enjoy; Camping for Scouts Only

The Recreation Advisory Board met Monday, April 11 to discuss all of the relevant recreational projects underway in Manalapan Township. Here is a compilation of the recent ventures that are coming to fruition: 

Field A

After fifteen years of socking money away, Field A of the Manalapan Recreation Center is finally getting turf! The “groundbreaking” ceremony took place on Monday, April 11. Field A will be designated as a soccer field. The grand opening of Field A is expected to be in four weeks. 

Bucks Head Park

New playground equipment was installed at Bucks Head Park at a cost of approximately seven or eight thousand dollars. The next addition to the two and a half acre park located at the corner of Doe Dr. and Deer Way in Manalapan Township will be a walking path surrounding the perimeter of the park. Bucks Head consists of a basketball court, playground, and open field. Due to damage, the basketball court has been completely dug out and new turf will replace it. 

Dog Park

No date has been set for the grand opening of the dog park that has been created in Thompson Grove Park. Grass seed has been sown by the Department of Public Works, but the dogs must wait for it to grow before they can come and dig it up! Gates and baggie holders were also installed by the DPW, and the local boy scouts will be installing benches. The fenced-in area will be separated into two sections: one for larger dogs (over 50 pounds.) and one for smaller dogs (under 50 pounds). Mona Chowlinski, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, believes the dog park grand opening should happen this May. 

Camping in Parks

For the first time, the Recreation Advisory Board is formulating a compilation of rules and regulations to be presented to the Township Committee regarding allowing camping within the Manalapan Township Parks. Girl and Boy Scouts have approached the board various times with this request, so the board decided to come up with a solution. Chairperson Rebecca Ginsberg worked with Steve Levine, of Crew 120, to come up with feasible guidelines for camping within Manalapan’s facilities. 

Ginsberg and Levine met with the Shade Tree Commission to make sure that everything was covered. “Shade Tree said everything was covered in the actual ordinances that Shade Tree governs, so there is nothing necessary that has to go into this,” Chowlinski explained. 

The rules were presented to all board members, and despite several quick re-writes and clarifications, the rules will be brought to the Township Committee on Wednesday, April 13 by Jordan Maskowitz, the Recreation Advisory Board liaison to the Township Committee. Since camping has never been an option within the parks, the board is stipulating that only scout groups can participate at this time and each time a group plans on camping, the group must pay a fee and the board must approve it. 

“We’re thinking of just having a pilot program to allow boy scouts and girl scouts do camp outings in [Thompson Grove Park], get a feel for it, and see if it something we want to open up further,” Chowlinski said.  

The camping rules will probably not be in effect until late summer or early fall.