Middletown Plans To Build Skate Park At Kunkel Park

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — At their meeting this past Monday night, the Middletown Township Committee approved a $1.3 million bond to build a new skate park at Bill Kunkel Memorial Park.

This is Kunkel Park located on Brevent Avenue in Leonardo. There is currently an unused roller hockey rink there that local kids have turned into a skate park. However, now Middletown Twp. wants to invest in the park and officially make it a skate park. The Henry Hudson Trail connects to that park.

Spohn Ranch, a skate park design firm, designed the proposed skate park and showed these renderings to the Township Committee Monday night on how it would look.

"It's an old roller rink that was not being utilized that was turned into a DIY skate park. That wasn't necessarily the best thing," said Mayor Tony Perry Monday night. "It's a great location, with the Henry Hudson Trail right there. It's something we can all really be proud of."

"The scoreboard will be turned into a cool design and really clean up that area of Kunkel Park," continued Perry.

Middletown Twp. is still in the design stage and hopes to send this project out to bid this summer, with construction starting in August at the absolute earliest, or most likely in the fall of 2022. There are some wetlands around Kunkel Park that Middletown has to address there, too.

The bond means Middletown will borrow the money and Middletown taxpayers will pay it back.

As Patch already reported in February, Highlands is also getting a skate park at Snug Harbor; construction on that is supposed to start this spring.

Also on Monday, the Township Committee voted to purchase via eminent domain a lot at Fairview Fields on Oak Hill Road for $3.2 million, as reported by the Asbury Park Press. Middletown will also take out a bond to pay for Fairview Fields as well.

There will be a public hearing April 18 on both the new skate park and the Township's purchase of Fair View Fields. All are welcome to attend and give their thoughts.

Here is Monday night's Township Committee meeting; they start talking about the new skate park at 9:57:

Prior: Highlands Borough Getting A Skatepark: See Renderings

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