Veterans Park on Aberdeen's Beachfront Celebrates Grand Opening

ABERDEEN, N.J. (8/8/17) – Aberdeen Township celebrated the grand opening of Veterans Park in Cliffwood Beach on August 6 with a ribbon-cutting and dedication attended by members of the Aberdeen Township Council, Township officials and hundreds of families.

On hand for the dedication were Mayor Fred Tagliarini, Deputy Mayor Margaret Montone and Council members Greg Cannon, Artie Hirsch, Connie Kelley and Robert Swindle.

The beachfront park, located at Ocean Blvd. and Lakeshore Dr., features a multi-dimensional active and passive recreation area including a pirate ship-themed spray park for all ages; pirate and tall ship-themed playground areas for ages 2-5 and 5-12; a picnic grove with shade structures; a multi-purpose field for little league, softball, and soccer; a kayak and small water craft launch; a gazebo/band shell; a flagpole and War Veteran’s Memorial Monument; and a restroom/equipment/storage building.

The park will host its first special event on Saturday, August 12 with the final showing in the township’s summer “Movie in the Park” series featuring Disney’s “Moana” at 8:00 p.m.

Following the June 11th fire which destroyed many structural components of the beachfront park’s new playground, the grand opening had to be postponed until this past weekend.

“Due to the fire, this day came later than we planned, but we hope that everyone will agree that this was worth the wait,” said Mayor Tagliarini “The totally reimagined Veterans Park is a very exciting addition to the recreational facilities located throughout Aberdeen and gives residents multiple reasons to take advantage of this under-utilized gem on our waterfront. With the bandshell/gazebo, we also look for Veterans Park to become a prime site for concerts and other special events.”

Deputy Mayor Margaret Montone said: “Now that this day is here, we want to thank project engineer Don Norbut of T&M Associates, general contractor Precise Construction Co., and all others who worked so hard to get the park open this summer in the wake of the fire. It was truly a great team effort.”

“We were especially pleased to see lots of families out here today enjoying the spray park, playground and other facilities,” added Councilwoman Connie Kelley. “We fully expect Veterans Park to become a gathering place for residents of all ages for years to come.”

The spray park will be open seven days a week, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., throughout August, while the playgrounds will be open from dawn through dusk.

For more information on Veterans Park or the movie series, contact Public Information Officer Brittany Shea at (732) 583-4200, ext. 130.

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Photo 1:

Pictured in Veterans Park’s new playground are (L. to R.): Aberdeen Councilman Greg Cannon, Deputy Mayor Margaret Montone, Councilman Artie Hirsch, T&M Associates special project engineer Don Norbut, Councilwoman Connie Kelley, and Mayor Fred Tagliarini.

Photo 2:

Cutting the ribbon in the new Veterans Park’s gazebo are (L. to R.): Project engineer Don Norbut of T&M Associates; construction superintendent Diogo Nascimento of Precise Construction; Councilmen
Artie Hirsch and Greg Cannon; Adrea Clark of Cliffwood Beach Neighborhood Watch; Herb Caravella of Aberdeen CERT; Deputy Mayor Margaret Montone; and Mayor Fred Tagliarini.

Photo 3:

New pirate ship-themed spray park was a big hit with kids. Facility on Cliffwood Beach will be open daily throughout August from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Photo 4:

Kids enjoy Veterans Park’s new spray park, as family members and local officials look on.