Boro to go out to bid for Husky Brook park Park to be constructed on 10-acre site on Grant Avenue BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer EATONTOWN - Construction on the first phase of a new borough park at a Grant Avenue site is expected to start as early as this summer. The estimated $825,000 Husky Brook Park project will be constructed on a 10-acre site and will include amultipurpose field, playground, covered pavilion, bathrooms, a storage shed for recreational equipment and possibly outdoor grills. The park will be built at the site of the former Stella and Capilupi tracts. "I think we will be ready to go to bid in 60 to 90 days and start construction in the summer," Gregory Baxter, an engineer with T&M Consultants, said at the March 5 workshop meeting of the Borough Council. Baxter added that he expects most of the construction on the park to be completed by the end of the year. Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said the park is the culmination of an idea he had in 1999 when he first thought of developing the site for open space. Tarantolo explained that when he took office as mayor at the end of 1999, he asked Rose Stella, the former owner of the Stella tract, if she would consider selling her 19-acre tract of property to the borough. "[Stella] indicated that she would love to see it not developed, and maintained for open space," Tarantolo said. "It was then that we started the process of getting the council to go with the idea." Plans call for the park to be constructed on approximately 10 acres of the available 19-acre tract. The remainder of the land, which spans east and west of Grant Avenue, will be developed as additional green space following the construction of the park, according to Tarantolo. The majority of construction at the 10-acre site will include the placement of infrastructure, such aswaterlines and storm drainage, according to Tarantolo. "There really isn't thatmuch associated with the construction," Tarantolo said. "It is mostly infrastructure work, sewer and waterlines and drainage." The construction of the covered pavilion at the park will cost an estimated $200,000, according to Baxter, who added that the restroom and storage shed will cost approximately $250 per square foot. Plans originally called for the restroomand storage shed to be constructed as separate structures, according to Tarantolo. It had also originally called for the restroom and storage structure to be built using masonry and wood materials. Tarantolo said that plans have been revised and now call for the restroom and storage shed to be built in one structure to save on space at the park site. Plans also now call for the structure to be built using only masonry materials, according to Tarantolo. "We decided to go the extra mile on the cost [of the structure] because the construction of this will outlast any other [wooden] building," Tarantolo said. The Husky Brook Park will be constructed in two phases, according to Tarantolo. The second phase calls for the development of the remaining 9 acres of the Stella and Capilupi tracts, located on the east side of Grant Avenue. "Once we start the process of developing the west side, we will start thinking of uses for the east side," Tarantolo said. "I have an ad hoc committee that is comprised of 14 or 15 individuals from the Shade Tree Commission, Planning Board, Environmental Commission, Borough Council and private residents from the area. "They were the ones that were responsible for defining the amenities that are out to bid for the phase one version," he said, adding, "I will reconvene that committee once again to start looking at the east side, where we have another 9 acres." The construction of Husky Brook Park is part of a long-range plan developed by Tarantolo. The borough is broken down into four quadrants, and Tarantolo's plan calls for creating a formal park in each of the four areas of the borough. Plans call for constructing Husky Brook Park in the southwest quadrant. "Looking at the borough and taking the northeast quadrant, we currently have our arboretumand twomini-parks with tennis courts," Tarantolo said. "In the northwest quadrant we have our Wampum Memorial Park and Wolcott Park off Route 35," he said, adding that an 8-acre park is located in the southeast quadrant. "I was fortunate enough, since being mayor and councilman, towork on three parks," Tarantolo said, adding that he has assisted in the construction of the Wampum Park, Wolcott Park and the 80-Acre Park. Now, he said, he is able to work on a fourth park in the borough. He said that hewould eventually like to see a perimeter of green space surround the borough. "We are looking at connecting green space as part of our Downtown Redevelopment Plan by having a perimeter-type trail system that will connect all of our green space eventually," Tarantolo said. "Right now our redevelopment plan is on hold because of the FortMonmouth redevelopment plan," he said. Tarantolo said he would like council to revisit theDowntown Redevelopment Plan after the Fort Monmouth issue is settled. He added that at that time, his hope is that the Downtown Redevelopment Plan and the Fort Monmouth redevelopment will be integrated to create a greener borough.