|
|
 ,Too
Preserving the Legacy of 2000-2003
Riverside Recreation Park |
In late 1998, the township acquired a 24 acre site in Gillette for recreation purposes.
The property is on the south side of Valley Road, and extends to the Passaic River.
To the west is the JCP&L property which will become the new Town Hall.
To the east is the Gillette School and the Senior Citizen's Center.
Driving Instructions
|
|
STATUS as of July 15, 2002
Parking is behind the new Town Hall. BE CAREFUL - The driveway and lot
are not paved and this is a construction zone.
DO NOT PARK or even STOP at the Service Entrance
(between Town Hall and the Senior Center), please.
- OPEN
- Basketball
- Tennis - Please see the Rules and Reservation Sheets posted on the court fence.
- Horseshoes
- Bocci
- Children's Playground - is designed for children ages 2 -5.
- Vending Area - Soda machine is installed.
Supervision is required and benches are located at the perimeter of
the playground to make supervision convenient.
- NOT OPEN, yet
- Soccer/Lacrosse - the sod has to "knit" properly all summer. Available in the Fall.
|
The GRAND OPENING ceremony will be September 14, 2002.
- 12:00
- Lacrosse demo
- Soccer - (Ages 6 and over) McLoughlin's School of Soccer - Kick the ball and record the speed!
- Tennis Tournament (Men's & Women's Doubles - 16 yrs. or older)
- Bocce, Horseshoes Tournaments (16 yrs or older)
- 3on3 Basketball Tournament (High School - Adult)
- 1:00 - Opening Ceremony
- 1:30
- Return to tournaments
- Children's Activities - face painting, moon walk, spin art, clowns, dunking booth.
- 2:30 - Foul Shooting Contest (grades 3-8)
- 2:30-8:00
- Music by 6 local bands
- Food sales to benefit the Acorn Fund for the Public Library
All contests and tournaments are free. Sign up here.
|
|
|
The Groundbreaking Ceremony
was held Saturday May 26, 2001 at the site. By mid-July, the site looked like this.
|
 |
The Soccer Fields, July, 2001.
View from the Parking Area towards Valley Road |
| With appreciation to the Millington Volunteer Fire Company
for the use of Ladder Truck 14
|
|
| This photo was taken on December 16
from behind the new Municipal Building, looking eastward.
Valley Road runs behind the trees on the left side of this photo.
In the foreground are the tennis courts.
Behind them, the refreshment stand/rest rooms and the Tot Lot.
In the distance is the junior soccer field and, beyond the trees, the
|
 cupola on the Gillette School.
To the right of the soccer field is the basketball court .
On the far right are the bleachers for the regulation soccer field .
|
|
The township hired a professional planning, engineering and surveying organization,
T&M Associates of Middletown, NJ, to develop a concept plan. T&M worked with a committee of
township officials to chart the recreational course for the first part of this century.
Because the south side of the property is in the flood plain of the Passaic River,
many accommodations had to be made in the layout.
On February 14, 2001, T&M Associates presented their final proposal to the Township Committee and the public.
The drawing below is from that presentation. The current plan shows:
|
| |
|
This drawing is oriented with south at the top.
Valley Road runs across the bottom. |
| |
- 3 tennis courts
- a basketball court
- bocci and horseshoe courts
- "tot lot"
- a full size soccer field
- a smaller soccer field
- walking paths
- canoe launch and picnic grove at the Passaic River
- the yellow band on the drawing is a 150 foot wide environmental buffer required to protect
endangered species along the river.
There will be a restroom and storage building. The plan also calls for retaining a
forested buffer along Valley Road to maintain the rustic appearance of the site.
All parking will be in the 200 car lot at the adjacent Town Hall.
|
|
