Celebration With Inflatables Planned For Ely Park Ribbon Cutting

LAMBERTVILLE, NJ — A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Friday, July 12 to celebrate the completion of the Ely Park revitalization project

The celebration, hosted by the City of Lambertville, Friends of Ely Park and Homestead Farm Market, will go from 4 to 8 p.m. that day. The event will kick off with a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by several family-friendly activities, including a photo booth, inflatables, an obstacle course competition, and prizes. There will also be live music by local musicians.

Inflatables will include a giant inflatable water slide, a caterpillar crawl, and a bounce house. Plus there will be a 100-foot inflatable obstacle course with prizes for the winning team.

“We are delighted that our founder Jim Hamilton's dream of a series of brick columns and black fencing along the perimeter of Ely Park has been completed, thanks to the collaborative relationship between the City of Lambertville and the Friends of Ely Park. Over the next month or so as we install Illia Barger's creative design of sports figures in the plaza of the snack shack, we will be wrapping up Jim's dream in a grand way, that he would have loved,” said Friends of Ely Park President Jim Mastrich.

Homestead Farm Market, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, will be providing free food and drinks. Lambertville’s largest park was gifted to the city in 1940 by the Closson family, owners of Homestead. City officials have declared July 12 Homestead Day in Lambertville in recognition of the donation.

“The Friends of Ely Park have done a fabulous job making the park even more beautiful, welcoming and user-friendly for everyone in our wonderful community. In honor of their hard work and the many contributions of our community members in making this dream a reality, we’re excited to join the festivities to celebrate both the revitalized park and our anniversary with our friends and neighbors,” said Debbie Closson.

Park improvements include a new fence and façade. The legacy project — the brainchild of the late local designer and restaurateur Jim Hamilton — has been in the works for a decade. The city of Lambertville allocated $410,000 to the project.

In addition to the fence, external improvements to the Snack Shack are in the plans. Local muralist Illia Barger has been tapped to create art on the façade of the Snack Shack.