By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
Years of planning and work at a former government site culminated last weekend in the reopening of the property as a new “state-of-the-art” sports complex for the surrounding region., Mountain View Park, located at 141 Mountain View Road, was formally opened on Saturday, April 22 , as officials from the Somerset County government, the Somerset County Park Commission and Hillsborough Township participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony., “This beautiful and functional park is the result of cooperation among many agencies including the GSA, the Freeholders, the Improvement Authority, Hillsborough Township and the Park Commission,” Freeholder Director Peter Palmer said. “Without the cooperative effort, we would not be standing here today.”, The new county regional park sits on a 369-acre piece of property that was once part of the former GSA Belle Mead Depot. Though Hillsborough and the county agreed to jointly acquire the property back in 2009, it was ultimately acquired by the Somerset County Improvement Authority on year later for just under $15.8 million., Following the purchase, the county and township established a committee of municipal and county officials to oversee the remediation, development and maintenance of the property. The funds from the purchase were placed in escrow accounts and have been used toward a massive clean-up of the site., “Mountain View Park is significant for many reasons, including the transition of an environmentally tainted site to an extraordinary athletic complex that will benefit the entire county,” Director of the Somerset County Park Commission Ray Brown said., The GSA Joint Administrative Committee oversaw the preparation of a master plan that identified a long-range plan and strategies to develop the proposed site into a regional park to serve the park and recreational needs of the residents in the southern portion of Somerset County., Hillsborough Mayor Carl Suraci said the recent opening marked the end to a nearly 12 year effort to utilize the GSA Belle Mead Depot property, which at one point saw developers soliciting the township early on., “When this first started back in 2005, we had a developer that came into town and did a public meeting to show their vision of that property. Their vision was 800 homes,” he said. “I think we did much better.”, County officials said the project “continues to promote the goals of the Somerset County Parks Recreation and Open Space Master Plan” by following a plan to provide open space for a wide range of recreational activities., The property is contiguous to the county’s 5,500-acre Sourland Mountain Preserve and is in close proximity to Hillsborough Township’s Ann Van Middlesworth Park. The property is flat and relatively open, providing a sweeping vista of the Sourland Mountain., In its current state, Mountain View Park has two adult baseball fields, four youth baseball fields and one special needs Challenger field. Each field is lighted and feature amenities like batting cages, playgrounds, a pavilion, a concession stand and restroom facilities, a park maintenance facility and a paved perimeter multi-use trail with associated parking., Officials said the park also has the potential for the future addition of up to six more baseball and softball fields.
