The township is set to build a Babe Ruth ball field.
By: Josh Appelbaum
The township is moving ahead with plans to build a Babe Ruth ball field and awarded a contract for architectural and design services Monday.
The township entered into a professional services contract with EDAW Inc. and subcontractor Brown and Keener Urban Design, of Philadelphia, through the end of 2005.
The township will spend a maximum of $35,000.
Committeewoman Pari Stave said planning consultant Bob Brown will give the Township Committee monthly status reports.
Ms. Stave said EDAW Inc., is being used because the firm specializes in recreation design. She said the design will be "minimalist" in nature, with low-profile fencing.
The proposed field will be designed with an accompanying Village Green. Previously, Bob Brown from Brown and Keener presented a plan to the Township Committee that called for a picnic area at the Village Green with trellises and picnic tables. Ms. Stave said the new plan would be scaled back, and will include only grassed surfaces with landscaping.
The field will be built on a 12-acre township-owned tract of the Wright South property, which is adjacent to Cranbury School.
The expected cost of the field is $75,000 and could be covered by a grant from the Middlesex County Open Space and Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
Ms. Stave said the field could be ready as soon as the spring or summer of 2006, though that timeline depends on the progress of an arsenic soil remediation project that will begin in June or July.
The township is awaiting results on soil tests it submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection in February to proceed with the remediation project.

