Edison and Metuchen to Open Dog Park on Wednesday

Edison, NJ - Working together, Edison and Metuchen have turned a long-vacant 4.3-acre Whitman Avenue property on the border between the two towns into a groomed dog park. Dogs will now run and play on a former industrial site that underwent a $53 million EPA clean-up.

The park officially opens at 7 p.m. Wednesday with dignitaries from Edison and Metuchen on hand “to throw out the first few balls for canines to fetch,” said Freeholder Charles Tomaro.

Tomaro helped secure Middlesex County Open Space Trust Fund monies to help make the new park a reality.

“Our new dog park is a prime example of how neighboring towns can work cooperatively and share resources to provide new and useful services to their residents,” Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey said. “This park also represents an environmental success for Edison and Metuchen, reclaiming a former industrial site that has been made safe for public use and enjoyment.”

The Whitman Avenue site was an industrial site from 1958 until 1970, a former one-building manufacturing plant. It underwent a $53 million cleanup by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), completed in 2005, to restore it to residential safety standards. Edison bought it in 2008 for $1 million with money from the township's Open Space Trust Fund and a state Green Acres grant. Now, with the county's financial assistance, funds from Edison and Metuchen, and private contributions, the dog park has been graded, landscaped and fenced; it has benches, water fountains, trash receptacles and walking paths; and a paved parking area.

Doggie playground equipment is also on the horizon with help from Petco and contributions from other area businesses, township officials said. Edison and Metuchen will share dog park maintenance duties including monitoring its use, mowing, pruning and trash collection.

In addition to Mayor Lankey and Freeholder Tomaro, also on hand for Wednesday's dog park opening will be Freeholder Director Ronald Rios, Metuchen Mayor Peter Cammarano, former borough mayor Thoams Vahalla, Edison and Metuchen council members, members of an ad hoc committee that helped plan and develop the park, and local Girl Scouts Abigail “Abby” Brooks and Lilith “Lilly” Rebecca Hoover, advocates for a local dog park since 2013.