Splash pads, pickleball courts, adaptive playgrounds, new trails and other improvements will be possible at 37 local parks under the Burlington County Commissioners’ latest round of municipal parks development grant awards.
“Burlington County strives to be a destination for all people and these grants help make sure there are quality parks in all communities,” said Burlington County Commissioner Director Dr. Felicia Hopson. “No matter where you live, you should be able to enjoy our county’s beautiful outdoor spaces and the health benefits of outdoor recreation.”
The commissioners recently voted to approve the 37 grant awards under the grant program, which provides financial support for municipalities to develop or improve municipal parks and playgrounds for outdoor recreation.
“We prioritize our parks and open spaces throughout the county,” said Burlington County Commissioner Deputy Director Allison Eckel. “We have made significant investments in the county parks and open space areas, but we recognize that there are wonderful parks and open spaces within the municipalities themselves that people love.
“People come regionally to spend time outside in well maintained parks … (They) get people outside, (they) get people out to enjoy nature, (they’re) healthy and (they) also have a positive impact on the economic vitality of the region. We recognize that while we are investing in our own county parks, we have the opportunity to offer investments to help our municipal partners with their own needs for their parks.”
All 40 municipalities in the county were eligible to apply for grants up to $250,000 to construct, repair or improve parks facilities or to acquire open space for a future park. Funding for the grants comes from the county’s voter-approved dedicated open space preservation tax. No local match is required for towns to receive grants funds, though the awards are generally restricted to hard costs such as construction, renovation and repair rather than design or engineering expenses. A total of $5 million is being awarded to 37 municipalities this round, the most since 2020 when the grants were last awarded.
“The county has not offered this grant for several years,” Eckel said. “We were pleased to be able to do this. We tend to invest in what we call passive recreation parks, where we make sure there’s a great park – you come and explore it as you will. Active recreation is more about sports and intentional activities, and we tend not to invest in those on a county level, but we were pleased to have this opportunity to help our municipal partners invest in their active recreation or other activities as according to what they needed in their municipality.”
All 37 municipalities that applied received funding, with awards ranging from $75,000 to $175,000. Three towns (Riverside, Washington Township and Woodland) did not submit applications for grants this round.
A variety of parks projects were awarded grant funds, including Mount Laurel’s plans to construct a splash pad at Marne Highway Park and construction of pickleball courts at Fenton Lake Park in Chesterfield, Legion Fields in Palmyra, Riverton Memorial Park and at the Woodlawn Sports Complex in Maple Shade.
Beverly, Fieldsboro and Springfield are being awarded grants for trail developments. Beverly plans to create a trail connection from Riverfront Park to the new segment of the Delaware River Heritage Trail the county is exploring between Florence and Delanco, and Springfield wants to create a walking, hiking and biking trail along Juliustown Road that may connect or become part of the county’s Kinkora Trail expansion.
Burlington City, Cinnaminson, Delanco, Evesham and Florence each received county grants to assist with the construction of inclusive playgrounds or to purchase new adaptive playground equipment. Mount Holly also received a grant to add new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-compliant restrooms to Mill Dam Park and Burlington Township received a grant for Green Acres Park improvements, among them new accessible restrooms.
“Everyone deserves access to the same facilities,” Eckel said. “Inclusive playgrounds means that a wider variety of people can benefit from these facilities so that people of all abilities can come out, come together, play, enjoy nature, enjoy the outside and make community connections.”
“Children of all abilities deserve to have inclusive spaces where they can play and interact with other children and their families,” added Commissioner Randy Brolo. “Awarding grants for towns to create inclusive playgrounds is a sound investment that will make sure all residents and families can access and enjoy these spaces. It sends a message to families that Burlington County does more than just talk about becoming more inclusive. We are taking actions and making changes to make sure people of all abilities feel welcome.:
For a town-by-town breakdown of this round of municipal parks grants, visit www.co.burlington.nj.us.
