Manitou Park Projects Moving Forward

BERKELEY, NJ — What was built to serve children of the largest Black community in Ocean County outside of Lakewood is moving forward in its process for rehabilitation.

Langan Engineering was hired to do some "specialized environmental engineering" at the Manitou Park School House, officials shared at the latest Township Council meeting.

The school house, built in 1929, received a $656K grant in 2019 for historic preservation. Read more: Berkeley's Manitou Park School House Set For $656K State Grant

The plan is to turn it into a community center for residents of Manitou Park. Its location next to the basketball court means there's a lot of kids playing and seeing the dilapidated building, said Mayor Carmen Amato.

"It's an eyesore," Amato said.

Additionally, the township is selling more lots to affordable home builder Homes For All for Manitou Park Phase 4, also known as Autumn Ridge at Manitou Park.

The 17 units had been pre-approved a few years ago and will be built shortly.

Councilman James Byrnes asked if the township could reach out to Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a non-profit that provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and late first responder families with young children, and offers smart homes to catastrophically injured veterans and first responders.

Amato agreed that it was a great idea, and that the township should be able to use some of their affordable housing trust fund money, which is not taxpayer money but funded by developers, and that they would look into it.