HOLMDEL — Township residents may soon be able to sharpen their batting style as the Township Committee has applied for a grant to help fund a tot lot and batting cage at Cross Farms Park.
During the Sept. 1 meeting, the Township Committee authorized township engineer Edward Broberg to apply for a $500,000 matching grant to the Monmouth County Open Space Grant program to fund the amenities to the Longbridge Road park.
“One of the projects is to construct a tot lot in this area for kids,” Broberg said. “The second element of this is a batting area with a pitching machine so that the kids can practice.
“It would be secure and open on a schedule.”
Broberg said Cross Farms would be an ideal location for a tot lot because the park features soccer and other athletic fields.
“There could be 20, 30, 40, 50 kids using the equipment on a weekend. I think that is going to happen here because the families are here, the people are here.”
According to Broberg, each of the two components to the project is expected to cost approximately $250,000.
Mayor Eric Hinds said the township is not bound to accept the funding if the committee decides not to move forward with the project.
“We could still decide that even if we got this $250,000 we could not proceed for whatever reason,” Broberg said.
He also said the proposal should include equipment for children with special needs
Broberg added that the location of the equipment hasn’t been determined.
“The location for these things has not been set, the idea for the tot lot equipment is to keep it somewhere in the center part of the park,” he said.
According to Broberg, the committee can expect to hear by the end of the year whether or not the grant application is successful. If the funding is awarded, the township would have two years to complete the project.