From the
Mayor
Our
community values a wide array of recreational opportunities for our
children. As our Township has grown, more children have enrolled in
organizations to play games like soccer and lacrosse. During this
growth period, our playing fields have suffered under the constant
strain of increased youth participation. This year I have committed
to revitalizing three existing grass fields with state-of-the-art
synthetic turf at the Chapel Avenue Soccer Fields and DeCou Complex
to accommodate the children of Cherry Hill.
We have been assessing the state of the Township's athletic
facilities and have found that Cherry Hill needs to provide more
playing time for our youth - especially for field games like soccer
and lacrosse.
After several months of fact-finding and analysis, we needed to
reassess the makeup of several existing sport fields throughout the
Township. Revitalizing new field surfaces is imperative to serve our
community and to supply all of our neighborhoods with an outlet and
place to play team sports without compromising undeveloped land.
Through this analysis we found that resurfacing our current
facilities with artificial turf would exponentially expand our
children's playing time. Currently our fields are significantly
overused and cannot be utilized after heavy rains.
During the Township's research we visited several neighboring towns
that have installed new turf fields in place of grass. In Audubon,
Mayor Anthony Pugliese worked with us to envision how turf can
benefit Cherry Hill and in his estimation their new turf complex
yields over 50 percent more playing time for borough children.
In Haddon Township, which installed a new turf facility in 2005, the
Haddon Township Youth Athletic Association no longer needs to worry
about heavy rains affecting their play time.
Another important benefit of using a synthetic turf product is the
additional safety of the playing surface. Poring over several
national and international studies, including a comprehensive report
by the American Journal of Sports Medicine, we have found synthetic
turf to be a safer material for children to play on.
After we completed our research of synthetic turf I wanted to make
sure both Cherry Hill facilities were given the upgrades that would
benefit our children, and also enhance the surrounding
neighborhoods. At Chapel Avenue, the Township will be enhancing an
existing walking path and extending it, planting 50 more trees and
lighting the parking lot.
At the DeCou complex the Township will be lighting the parking lot
area next to Cropwell Road to provide a safe loading area for
children and families. A new asphalt corridor will be constructed
for pedestrian and emergency access and a new spectator area will be
built.
Both facilities will have significantly improved storm water
management systems which will enhance both properties by eliminating
standing water and storm water runoff. The new installation of the
drainage system for the field infrastructure will improve the
surrounding areas and benefit everyone in the community.
Our children should never have to leave this Township to play games
because our facilities are not in a playable condition. This is
unacceptable and I am committed to changing the face of Cherry
Hill's youth athletic complexes.
It is time to invest in our children's well being by giving them the
proper facilities needed to have them grow into well rounded healthy
adults. This new capital project will continue to make Cherry Hill a
place where community, culture and commerce thrive.
For more information on this recreation project please call my
office at 856.488.7878.
E-mail your comments
or questions
