Carteret, NJ – Mayor Dan Reiman joined with Councilman Randy Krum this week to announce that the Borough has earmarked funds for soft costs to prepare for improvements to Carteret Park’s tennis and basketball courts. Made possible by Carteret’s local Open Space fund and CDBG funds, $50,000 has been earmarked for pre-construction costs such as surveying, planning, base mapping, core sampling, and engineering.
Adjacent to Carteret Middle school, the courts were first constructed in the 1960’s. Both the tennis and basketball courts are used extensively by the middle school and high school, along with the number of recreational leagues the town hosts, and residents who use the park. Time, usage, and poor drainage have contributed to the deterioration of the courts, according to the Borough Engineering Department.
T&M Associates of Middletown has been engaged to conduct preliminary surveys and core sample work at the site, and are in the process of completing plans for construction.
Ultimately, Borough officials have estimated that $450,000 will be needed to provide for new fencing, a new retaining wall, nets, posts, and asphalt. The borough applied for a NJ DEP Green Acres Program grant in the fall of 2008 in the amount of $500,000.
“Although we don’t yet have the construction dollars, we are still early in the process. This allows us to do all necessary planning and engineering while we continue to search for available grant and shared service dollars” said Mayor Dan Reiman.
Carteret Park is the 2nd largest local park on the Borough’s Recreational Open Space Inventory, and is the most used by residents, according to Mayor Reiman.
“We’re an athletic town,” Mayor Reiman stated. “A good number of our youth learn to set and meet goals through sports, so we are very dependent on our public recreational facilities.”
Carteret’s local Open Space funding has directly enabled Carteret to engage in eleven major park projects prior to the baseball field improvements. These have included the construction of the Veteran’s Memorial Fishing Pier at Waterfront Park, the new bandstand at Carteret Park, new basketball courts at Chrome Park, a Skateboard park upgrade, and the establishment or improvement of various other parks and sports facilities.
“Quality athletic facilities play a big part in the success of our sports programs,” Councilman Krum added. “Because we are an active community, and because of the popularity of varsity and recreational athletics, our sports facilities undergo substantial wear and tear and require attention that they had not been given in years past.”
Mayor Reiman stated that if funding is put in place construction could begin as early as this summer.
