Middlesex County Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel speaks at Friday’s press conference, when officials announced plans to build a multipurpose athletic field at East Brunswick’s Heavenly Farms for people with special needs. Mayor William Neary (l) also spoke at the event, held at the Dunhams Corner Road park. EAST BRUNSWICK — Middlesex County officials are planning to allocate $1.5 million to help the township build a new playing field for children with special needs.
The multipurpose field will be located at Heavenly Farms, located on Dunhams Corner Road.
“This is an exciting project and I believe one that would serve our residents very well,” Middlesex County Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel said. “This field will complement nicely our award-winning Level Playing Fields Complex inside Roosevelt Park in Edison, which has offered children of all abilities an opportunity to practice their ballgame.”
East Brunswick is home to the Daisy Association, which offers educational and recreational opportunities to the town’s special needs population, and a growing Buddy Ball League that has 95 participants from nine local towns.
“For the freeholders to support this and build it in Heavenly Farms, is such a great addition to our park. It’s really tremendous,” Mayor William Neary said. “All the residents of East Brunswick and neighboring towns will benefit from this project.”
Mindy Listwa, president of the Daisy Association, and Tom Cregge, director of the East Brunswick Buddy Ball League, applauded the decision.
“We are very excited because the township and the freeholders are including all our children in sports. It is great when everyone works together,” Listwa said.
“This takes our program to another level,” Cregge said.
The news resounded in the ears of East Brunswick Councilman Donald Klemp, as he has been trying for years to get a special field created for those who play sports but are disabled in some way.
“I’ve been pushing for this for four years,” Klemp said. “This will be a ball field for children with special needs. Primarily, it’s for the Buddy Ball League.”
In Buddy Ball, players are assisted by volunteers, or buddies, in playing sports like baseball and basketball.
Township and county officials held a press conference Friday morning to announce the grant. The prior evening, the freeholders introduced an ordinance to provide the grant. A public hearing and possible adoption has been scheduled for Sept. 18.
Klemp, noting the county’s special needs field in Edison, said it is hard for many children to get to the field, and officials felt one located in East Brunswick would be a good idea.
Councilman David Stahl called the last week’s announcement “a tremendous deal for East Brunswick and a tremendous deal for the county.”
Stahl said the field is “barrier free” and will have a level-playing surface better suited for people in wheelchairs. The field can be used for sports other than baseball, he noted.
Officials hope to have the field and related infrastructure completed by late summer of 2009. It is anticipated that $1 million from the county will be used for the actual field construction, while $500,000 will pay for related infrastructure.
Stahl said the special needs field will be located near the two multipurpose fields already in place at Heavenly Farms. Those fields use portable restrooms, so the comfort station/restrooms that will be built with the special-needs field will also benefit all users of the complex.
Stahl said it is possible the work will include a snack bar and place for people to get refuge in the event of an unexpected storm.