Twp. plans future of recreational facilities
Recreation master plan sees need for combined aquatic/ice rink center
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer
The Middletown Recreation Master Plan has gone by many names by residents of the township: a wish list, a bible and a fantasy football team.

"I had gone to some of these planning meetings and we were told to think of this as fantasy football," Middletown resident James Cody said. "Tell us exactly what you want in a wish list and we are going to put it in a plan, and eventually 15 years from now it may come true."

The township's newly minted Recreation Master Plan was presented to the public on May 6, at the Middletown Arts Center

The plan is the culmination of more than a year's worth of intensive study and analysis of all recreational venues, available space and the community's recreational interests.

It outlines courses of action the township can take over the next 15 years to address growing and changing recreational interests.

Gathering input from the public was a major component of the process.

Focus groups, surveys and public meetings were some of the tools used to learn about residents' recreational wants and needs.

Artists, coaches, community leaders, environmentalists, parents, students and seniors were among those who provided input.

The comprehensive document addresses departmental operations, potential infrastructure improvements, and facilities renovations.

Needs and cost assessments were conducted on synthetic turf and indoor facilities for hockey and aquatics. Brandstetter Carroll Inc., which developed the plan, also conducted a benchmark study that compares park resources and recreational opportunities to other towns of similar size.

The master plan was guided by a local steering committee that included representation from the Township Committee, the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department, and the school district.

Representatives from Brandstetter Carroll, a Kentucky-based company, presented the plan to about 50 residents in attendance.

"This is a road map that we need to look at," representativeWayne Bain said. "It's not going to happen overnight. I would not be doing this in all honesty if this would be placed on a shelf and forgotten about for years."

The 272-page plan developed for $153,155 includes upgrading all of Middletown's playgrounds, developing a system of interconnected trails, building an indoor ice rink complex and an indoor Olympic pool complex.

Middletown has 43 parks that consist of 862 total acres, 413 acres of open space at 23 sites, and 200 acres of school parks.

For the master plan, the professionals conducted a Community Attitude and Interest Survey that was completed by approximately 541 households, a student survey of 247 Middletown high school and middle school students, an active Parks and Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee, and meetings with 45 stakeholder groups including athletic organizations, youth advocates, senior citizens and social services, partners and program organizations, government and staff.

According to the survey, 82 percent of households and 87 percent of the students responding said they had visited a park at least once in the past year and approximately 85 percent of the households that use parks rated the existing facilities as "excellent" or "good."

The Master Plan Steering Committee reviewed the recommendations of the master plan and then participated in an exercise to establish priorities to provide direction to the Middletown Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, the Township Committee, and others toward the implementation of this plan.

In this exercise, committee members were asked to rank a list of capital improvements that have been recommended throughout this master plan.

The ranking of each improvement is indicated through total points received for each improvement by 13 committee members

The indoor aquatic center was ranked the highest by the committee members.

This is followed by upgrading all of the existing athletic fields, and third on the list, a new community and recreation center in the southern part of the township.

According to the plan, this facility could be developed in conjunction with the indoor aquatic center, which would be the most efficient use of space in the building.

Some ideas include the development of a large facility with a combination of indoor ice rink, swimming pool, teen center and recreation center components.

Also, the plan recommends expanding the Hillside Recreation Center with a proposed addition while demolishing and developing a new center at the site of the Tonya Keller Bayshore Recreation Center.

The development of spray grounds in some of the large community parks and an integrated trail system of bikeways and walkways throughout the township was also in the plan.

Also discussed were synthetic turf fields to use for numerous sports activities.

Brandstetter Carroll representative Patrick Hoagland suggested that a partnership of private and public interests, proximity to a major highway to attract outsiders, and combining some of the proposals in one location to save on overhead are some of the ways to cut costs.

By contracting a private company, the township could also save on construction costs, he said.

The plan recommends that an indoor pool and ice rink could be part of a single recreation center and would work well with common heat and ventilation systems.

In the consultant's opinion, the aquatic facility may not generate the revenue necessary to interest a private developer in building an ice arena and aquatic facility.

Another solution would be a public/private partnership to develop and operate the ice arena, and the township would develop the aquatic component on the same site with some shared space and shared parking.

The Board of Education could possibly be a partner in the aquatic center to support their swim teams, the plan suggests.

The aquatic center could be included in the recreation center and would add about 10,000 to 20,000 square feet to the center.

"Both the ice rink and the aquatic center could work well financially with users from outside of the Middletown area for tournaments, lessons, games, swim meets, shows, etc.," the plan states. "Therefore, a location near the parkway would be ideal.

The plan also compared the numbers regarding what kind of surface the fields would be - either natural grass or synthetic turf.

Synthetic turf would cost $1.2 million to install, according to estimates presented in the plan, and residents would be able to use it 2 1/2 times as much as natural grass, which would cost $511,960 over the same period.

Former committeeman Patrick Parkinson spoke about the plan for an aquatic center and how it would affect the township.

He said the aquatic center was brought up back in 1991 when he was on the committee and that there was a public outcry at the time.

"What you're going to come across is that this can affect people's quality of life and that people cannot handle it," Parkinson said. "The study said that back in that day, you had to have more people attending the aquatic center than the Monmouth Mall to make it work."

He said that township officials in the beginning of the process should focus on the affordable items and realize that the smaller plans have a better chance of being realized.

Committeeman Thomas Wilkens, a former bronze medalist in the 1992 Summer Olympics, spoke of the difference between the current pool at the Middletown swim club and what a competition pool should be.

"You'd be able to have competitions there, but the times would not count for state times," Wilkens said. "A standardized pool would be needed for that case."

Public comments about the plan will be accepted through June 6.

Comments can be e-mailed to masterplan@middletownnj.org or sent by postal mail to Middletown Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, 900 Leonardville Road, Leonardo, New Jersey 07737.