Oceanport Gets $150,000 To Make Community Center Park Upgrades

OCEANPORT, NJ – Monmouth County recently awarded a total $3.47 million in grants to parks in 23 towns through the 2020 round of the Municipal Open Space Grant program.

The borough of Oceanport was given $150,000 to make improvements to its Community Center Park. The unspecified improvements will be done in 2021.

Here's how other nearby towns fared: Atlantic Highlands' Many Mind Park was awarded $85,000 for improvements. Many Mind Park is part of Many Mind Creek, which drains into Sandy Hook Bay at the sandy beach between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The borough of Sea Bright was also given $80,000 to make Phase II improvements to Shrewsbury Riverfront Park.

Tinton Falls was given $127,000 to make dog park improvements to Liberty Park.

In Long Branch, $40,000 was given for the ongoing "beautification" work around Lake Takanassee. In Eatontown, $50,000 was given to make improvements to Wampum Park and make the park ADA (wheelchair) accessible.

The town of West Long Branch was given the most: $175,000 for improvements to Owen Farm, Franklin Lake, Sorrentino and Ronan Shirvanian Park. The improvements were unspecified.

These are grants from the state of New Jersey and the county.

The Municipal Open Space Grant program is sponsored by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders and is the primary method in which the county assists local recreation departments. This program provides vital funding to municipalities in order to meet needs relating to open space acquisition, recreation and historic conservation.

This year, a total of 31 applications were received requesting a total of $5,469,000. Another $2 million in grant funds, combined with $1.47 million of redistributed grant funds, allowed the county to award a total of $3.47 million in grant funding.