Monmouth County officials have announced that the county has awarded $3.47 million in dedicated park improvement grant funds to 23 municipalities in the county through the 2020 round of the Municipal Open Space Grant program.
The program is the primary method in which the county assists municipalities in meeting the recreational needs of residents. This program provides funding to municipalities in order to meet their local open space acquisition, recreation, historic and conservation goals, according to a press release.
There were 31 applications received requesting an aggregate total of $5.47 million. Another $2 million in grant funds, combined with $1.47 million of reprogramed grant funds, allowed the county to award a total of $3.47 million in grant funding, according to the press release.
Municipalities in Newspaper Media Group’s coverage areas that have been awarded funding through the 2020 grant round are:
• Allentown, George Ashby Memorial Park, Phase II, $125,000;
• Eatontown, Wampum Park site and ADA Upgrades, $50,000;
• Freehold Borough, Liberty Park improvements, $250,000;
• Holmdel, Allocco Park playground improvements, $200,000;
• Millstone Township, Millstone Park, Phase II improvements, $250,000;
• Shrewsbury Township, improvements to Eloise Nagel Park, $115,000;
• Tinton Falls, Liberty Park, dog park improvements, $127,000.
Since the inception of the program in 2003, 47 of Monmouth County’s 53 municipalities have been awarded more than $34 million for local parks and acquisition projects, according to the press release.
As of 2020, 233 grants have been awarded, with 173 grants going toward park development projects and 60 grants going toward open space acquisition projects.
Another $2 million has been allocated for the 2020 round of grant funding, bringing the total allocated through the program to $36 million, according to the press release.