RUMSON — The borough has been awarded a $250,000 Municipal Open Space Grant from Monmouth County for improvements that will be coming to Piping Rock Memorial Park on East River Road.
Sarah Orsay, director of parks and recreation, said the funds would go toward the installation of a synthetic all-weather turf playing field.
“We put two simultaneous applications in — one for 2014 and one for 2015 — each with a maximum potential award of $250,000 in matching funds,” Orsay said.
“We were awarded the $250,000 for the first application, which will be part for phase one, and we will hear about our second application, which was also for $250,000 for phase two, sometime in December of this year.”
Rumson Mayor John E. Ekdahl said if the borough is awarded the second grant, it will have $500,000 of the nearly $600,000 the project is going to cost.
“Since it is a matching grant, the borough would then be paying for the rest of the project itself,” he said.
According to Orsay, officials in Rumson have been thinking about the installation of a synthetic all-weather turf playing field for the park for a while.
“What we have found — which is similar to many of our surrounding municipalities — is that the demand for our fields far exceeds the availability we have,” she said.
Ekdahl agreed, adding that not only has enrollment in recreational sports increased in the borough, but the number of sports played has also increased.
“More children are playing these sports, and it’s not only the games that are getting played on our fields but also practices, and we have found that a lot of times we have had to take one of the fields out of rotation for a year in order to let the grass heal,” he said.
“It’s just an awful lot of wear and tear that happens to these fields.”
Piping Rock Memorial Park currently has a baseball field, a playground and two tennis courts, and is used as the practice field for American Youth Football.
A lacrosse field in the park also hosts a K-2 clinic and lacrosse for third- and fourthgrade girls.
“As we were discussing the location of the synthetic all-weather turf playing field, we felt Piping Rock Memorial Park would be ideal because of its proximity to local schools and other popular areas in the borough,” Orsay said.
Ekdahl said one of the borough’s high schools has an artificial playing field, and the decision to install a similar one at Piping Rock Memorial Park is based a lot on the high school’s success.
“We have seen the success the high school has had — that field is just constantly being used and has held up in the seven or eight years it’s been there. And it planted a seed that we should be doing something similar,” he said.
The Synthetic Turf Council’s website states that the latest generation of synthetic turf is a “grass-like ground cover that replicates lush natural grass in appearance and function.”
Orsay said the synthetic turf would allow greater access and serve a broader population than the borough’s grass fields.
“This type of turf will be able to handle the wear and tear of some of our heavier users, such as football, lacrosse, field hockey and soccer,” she said.
“It’ll be a nice addition to the borough because it will reduce cancellations due to rainouts, for instance.”
Ekdahl said the borough will be able to protect its grass fields better and give them “more rest” with the new artificial field.
Orsay said, however, that residents shouldn’t expect the changes at Piping Rock Memorial Park until 2016 at the earliest.
“We want to wait until we hear about our second application for phase two, and we want to make sure that we maintain the spirit and feel of a beloved neighborhood park,” she said.