Indoor sports facility, synthetic turf fields, refurbished Community Park pool among possibilities
By: Courtney Gross
Looking toward a possible indoor sports facility, synthetic turf fields and a refurbished community pool, Princeton’s joint Recreation Department is embarking on a master plan study that could determine what is ahead for park and athletic facilities over the next decade.
Following approval by the Princeton Township Committee on Monday, Recreation Department Executive Director John Roberts said the department has consolidated capital funds from as far back as 2001 to pursue the master plan.
Brandstetter Carroll Inc. of Lexington, Ky., will conduct the study over approximately the next nine months, Mr. Roberts said. The cost is not to exceed $68,708. "It’s a 10-year capital plan document that begins to prioritize as many of the goals that we can, understanding that there is an indefinite amount of money," the executive director said.
The study’s cost will be shared with Princeton Borough.
The last time the Recreation Department petitioned for a master plan study, Mr. Roberts said, was in 1989. Hoping to gather community input on what the department ought to pursue to suit residents’ needs, Mr. Roberts said the master plan study will include focus groups, public hearings, a survey and a citizens’ task force.
The department is now "hard-pressed" to meet Princeton’s demand, Mr. Roberts said, and the surveys could help the department prioritize and determine where the community would most like to see improvements.
By planning for the incorporation of new technology and the renovation of other recreational equipment and facilities, he said, the department can better address the demand for field or recreational space in Princeton Township and Princeton Borough.
For example, Mr. Roberts said, Princeton could investigate the use of synthetic turf on its athletic fields an amenity that would allow teams to play in inclement weather seven days a week.
Other major projects that will be evaluated in the master plan would be an indoor athletic facility and the reconstruction of Community Park Pool.
"The pool complex will be 40 years old this summer," Mr. Roberts noted. "We need to start planning for a new one. … We’re getting into the senior citizen age bracket for that pool."
To finance the study, Mr. Roberts explained the department received approval from the township to transfer some funding from previous studies slated to determine the need for an indoor recreational facility as well as the consolidation of services for parks and recreation.
During Monday’s meeting several members of the governing body raised doubts about the Recreation Department looking into the need for an indoor recreational facility before the entire master plan is completed, especially when the municipality could soon struggle economically if a cap on tax increases is passed by the state Legislature.
But committee members determined the master plan study should move forward.
"The Recreation Department uses so many different sites … and slowly but surely its dwindling down," Committeeman Lance Liverman said Monday.