Aberdeen's Cambridge Park Getting Add'l Basketball Court

ABERDEEN, NJ — As part of a slew of Open Space grant funding announced by Monmouth County this January, Aberdeen Township will receive $150,000 to make improvements to Cambridge Park.

“The Township has proposed redoing the present basketball court as well as adding an additional court due to the use and need," said Councilwoman Margaret Montone at the Jan. 20 Council meeting.

Councilman Greg Cannon added that, when he was a kid growing up in town, he personally waited hours to play basketball at Cambridge Park, so he applauded the Council Recreation Committee for building an additional basketball court.

Also coming to Cambridge Park are two new playscapes, which the town promised will be bigger and better than what's there currently. Both will be age appropriate to the neighboring Lloyd Road School.

There will also be parking lot improvements, including handicapped parking spots/handicap improvements as well as ADA accessibility.

There will be additional upgrades to the stairs, drainage and fencing included in the overall project.

The entire project will cost $300,000. This is a matching grant from the county; Aberdeen Twp. will pay $150,000.

“We are excited to continue our park restoration program and the Monmouth County Open Space Grant will be used to help us achieve that goal," said Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini.

Many other towns received money for park upgrades: Highlands got $200,000 to build a skatepark at Snug Harbor; see a rendering here: https://highlandsborough.org/w...

Eatontown received $48,000 to build a splash pad/water park. The splash pad will be located in an entirely new park Eatontown is building, Nicodemus Park.

Construction on all of these projects is expected to start this spring.

In 2021, Monmouth County asked all towns in the county to apply for funding out of its County Open Space Trust Fund. Each town was limited to a single application per year and a maximum grant of $250,000. Twenty four Monmouth County towns applied and 19 were chosen.

Here are all the Monmouth County towns that will get funding for park improvements in 2022 (all matching grants):

• Township of Millstone Clarksburg Cultural Center, Phase III $150,000.00
• Township of Colts Neck Improvements to Laird Road Recreation Center and Five Points Park $140,000.00
• Township of Wall Pickleball Courts at Camp Evans $ 134,000.00
• Borough of Eatontown Nicodemus Park Splash Pad Project $ 48,000.00
• Borough of Fair Haven Spagnuolo Property Acquisition $ 250,000.00
• Borough of Bradley Beach ADA Park Improvements at Lake Terrace Park $ 70,000.00
• Borough of Oceanport Pickleball Court and Community Garden Project $53,000.00
• Borough of Highlands Snug Harbor Skate Park Project $200,000.00
• Borough of Manasquan Improvements to Curtis Park Phase II $ 150,000.00
• Borough of Keyport 2021 Park Improvement Project $ 140,000.00
• Township of Middletown McMahon Park Improvements Project $ 200,000.00
• Township of Aberdeen Cambridge Park Improvements $ 150,000.00
• Borough of Monmouth Beach Griffin Park Improvements $ 100,000.00
• Borough of Neptune City Improvements to Adams Field Phase II $ 200,000.00
• Borough of Atlantic Highlands 2022 Open Space Acquisition $ 250,000.00
• Township of Hazlet North Hazlet Community Park $ 250,000.00
• Township of Holmdel Pedestrian & Bikeway Plan Phase 1 $ 114,000.00
• Borough of Red Bank Various Park Improvements Phase III $ 100,000.00
• Borough of Freehold Various Park Improvements $ 117,000.00

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