Manchester Gets 2 Grants For Tuskegee Airmen Park Makeover

MANCHESTER, NJ — Manchester Township has received an $80,000 grant from the Department of Community Affairs to make upgrades to the Tuskegee Airmen community park.

The grant is from the state Department of Community Affairs through its Local Recreation Improvement Grant program. The program was created to help local governments repair and upgrade parks, playgrounds and recreation facilities "into spaces that promote people’s physical and mental well-being.," officials said.

Manchester was one of 162 recipients out of several hundred applicants and received one of the largest grants in Ocean County.

Mayor Robert Hudak said the state grant will be used along with a $35,000 grant through the federal Community Development Block Grant program for the park.

The plans are to upgrade the park, which is located at the end of Richard Road, past Manchester Middle School on Route 571, with new playground equipment and to rehabilitate the basketball courts.

"I would like to thank Colliers Engineering and Public Works Director Al Yodakis for their diligence on this grant submission which secured these additional grant funds to complete this important project and we hope to have this project bid out this summer," Hudak said of the state grant.

The park, originally Richard Estates playground, was renamed Tuskegee Airmen Park in 2004 to honor the Black fighter unit in the Army Air Corps that served with much merit during World War II.

The park has two basketball courts, three playground pieces for all age groups and spring-mounted airplanes, a picnic area, a stamped-concrete entryway, a stone monument and other amenities, with the park surrounded by post and rail fencing. Street parking is available adjacent to the park.

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