Funds to be Utilized for Normandy Park Improvements
For Immediate Release- February 6, 2020
MIDDLETOWN, NJ —Middletown Township was selected by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders to receive a $250,000 grant to help fund the Normandy Park Improvements Project.
In December 2019, the Middletown Township Committee unanimously approved a $5.15 million bond ordinance to install multi-use turf fields at Normandy Park and to convert a grass field at Nut Swamp School to synthetic turf. By re-purposing Normandy Park, the Township can get maximum utilization for both the school and recreational community and provide them with the amenities they need. The goal is for the Township to be able to serve a variety of sports and age groups with fields, parking improvements and lighting within the same vicinity.
“The Township Committee and I are very appreciative of Freeholder Director Tom Arnone and the Monmouth Board of Chosen Freeholder’s continued support of the Township’s efforts to provide state-of-the-art facilities that our youth need and deserve,” said Mayor Tony Perry. “We are proud to be able to utilize dedicated Open Space Trust funds to help make this project become a reality starting this spring.”
Since 2012 the Township Committee, in partnership with all of our volunteer youth organizations and schools, has made significant improvements in capital facilities and maintenance to fields for baseball, soccer, football, lacrosse and field hockey. The newest improvement to Normandy Park that will be funded by the grant will add synthetic turf fields allowing the Township to ensure that both our grass and synthetic turf are in the best possible playing conditions for our young athletes and participants.
“When I took office in 2009, one of the primary complaints I would receive was that the facilities for our youth athletes were subpar compared to many towns in Monmouth and Ocean County,” said Deputy Mayor Tony Fiore. “Five years later, subpar started to become downright unsafe due to extreme overuse from the over 8,000 young athletes who depend on these fields.”
As youth sports such as soccer, lacrosse and field hockey grow and become multi-seasonal, so does the demand for field space. Additionally, constant overuse of the fields has caused a severe degradation of our current grass facilities.
“This grant will help provide the current and future generation of Middletown children the facilities they deserve while saving taxpayers significant dollars in the continued refurbishing of our existing grass facilities from overuse,” said Deputy Mayor Tony Fiore. The new turf fields will be striped for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and baseball. The roller hockey rink and basketball and tennis courts will remain at Normandy Park.
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