STONE HARBOR – The borough has received a $750,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection for an all-inclusive “Jake’s Place” playground at 82nd Street, Mayor Tim Carney announced.
Carney on April 25 said getting the grant was a team effort. “We brought in the schools, the property owners, parents and the business district to complete the grant application and design,” Carney said. “I’m happy to report that we can now start building our second playground on 82nd St.”
Two popular playgrounds in the resort town, at 97th Street and 82nd Street, had all of their equipment removed last year due to salt air damage and safety concerns. The losses left the borough with a small playground at Chelsea Park, at 105th Street, as the only functioning municipal playground.
Now, one year later, a new playground at 97th street will be open for the summer season, funded with more than $1 million in Cape May County Open Space grant funds. Borough Engineer Marc DeBlasio said the new handicapped-inclusive play area and a regulation basketball court will be ready for summer.
In the fall the borough will complete the 97th Street project by demolishing the older storage building and constructing a new building with public restrooms.
Jake’s Place refers to an inclusive playground in Cherry Hill that was created in honor of Jacob Cummings-Nasto, who died of complications of heart surgery at age two and a half. A measure known as Jake’s Law was subsequently passed by the Legislature to incentivize counties and towns to build inclusive playgrounds for children and adults with disabilities.
The new grant from the DEP is part of that initiative. Counties and municipalities can apply through the Green Acres program. The award to Stone Harbor of $750,000 is the ceiling for awards to municipalities.
The grant will pay for 75% of the 82nd Street project, with the borough supplying the remainder.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
