STONE HARBOR – The borough plans to seek New Jersey Green Acres funding for the construction of an all-inclusive playground at 82nd Street.
The grant for what has become known as a Jake’s Place Playground usually covers up to 75% of the total costs.
The original Jake’s Place is located in Cherry Hill, where a then-novel, completely inclusive playground allows children and adults of all abilities to play and interact with each other. There is also a Jake’s Place in Delran.
At the Dec. 3 Borough Council meeting, Administrator Manny Parada described living in Cherry Hill at the time and witnessing the evolution of the concept of such playgrounds.
A May press release from the nonprofit Build Jake’s Place touted Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement of $40 million in Green Acres funding for all-inclusive playgrounds across the state. According to Parada, this is the first year such Green Acres funding is available to municipalities rather than only counties.
The administrator said the playgrounds tend to cost between $1 million and, in the case of Delran, $1.4 million each. The 75% grant funding has been providing towns with between $750 million and $800 million to apply to total costs.
Age, the eroding effect of salt air, and normal wear took their toll on two Stone Harbor playgrounds, at 97th Street and 82nd Street. For safety reasons both were dismantled.
Currently the borough is at work replacing the 97th Street playground, with the expectation that the county will look favorably on the borough’s request for open space funds to aid in covering the expense. The decision from the county looks promising, but as yet there has not been a final approval vote from the commissioners.
Getting Green Acres funding for the playground would greatly reduce the potential expense of a new facility at that location.
Parada said a major component of the scoring for any grant application for a Jake’s Place playground is broad community involvement. He said a plan will be developed to outline ways to generate community interest, not just from the fewer than 1,000 permanent residents of the borough, but also from the 30,000 second home owners and tourists who visit every summer.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
