Neptune City’s Adams Field to Receive $470,000 Upgrade
By DON STINE
Neptune City residents will experience a new and improved Adams Field this year, with revitalized playing fields, new playground equipment, additional parking, and better security.
The five- to six-acre field, the largest park in the borough, is located just off W. Sylvania Avenue near the the Woodrow Wilson Elementary School.
The Borough Council approved a $470,000 capital improvement project to make the upgrades.
The park is heavily used. There are always people over there, said Borough Administrator Joel Popkin.
The park now has three baseball fields, basketball and field hockey courts, an exercise track, and playground equipment.
What has happened over the years it that the fields have deteriorated and the equipment has aged, Popkin said
Under the improvement plan, an addition, which will also house handicapped-accessible bathrooms, is being built on to an existing building at the park. The existing building is also being resided.
Twenty-five parking spaces are being added, using municipal land adjacent to the park, for a current total of about 50 spaces. The parking lot will now be paved for the first time.
The borough is purchasing two brand new sets of playground equipment that meets state and federal safety standards and will add security cameras and extra lighting for additional safety.
Popkin said many of the field improvements have already been made, which include new sod or seeding, filling in holes and re-grading, and adding new or improved irrigation and drainage systems.
The basketball and field hockey courts are being repaved as well, as is the exercise track, he said. Half of the work is already done and we expect to complete the rest of the upgrades by the middle of April.
Popkin also said new benches, tables and bleachers will be installed in the park.
Bill Ryan, president of the Neptune City – Bradley Beach Little League, said he is very happy to see the improvements, and he thinks Bradley Beach residents may feel the same way.
Ryan has been president for the past eight years and involved with the local Little League for 18 years.
We are so happy- it will benefit the whole community. Plus I hope Bradley Beach residents are happy too because both leagues play in the park, he said.
Ryan said the biggest problem to maintaining the old fields is that they were a bit rough and that there was no irrigation to the fields.
They tended to dry out. The new [irrigation] system is designed so it will not be damaged by play on the fields, he said. Without a doubt, this will look like a whole new park.
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