Contract is awarded
for Phillips Preserve
First county park
in Old Bridge honors former mayor
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer

A Montclair engineering firm has received a $4.37 million contract to begin developing a new county park off Route 18 in Old Bridge.

Of six bids received, the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders selected Marsellis-Warner Corp. to develop the first phase of John Phillips Park, according to Ralph G. Albinar, the county’s director of parks and recreation.

The active recreation park will be situated within the 1,700-acre John Phillips Preserve, a county-owned open space parcel between Route 18 and Route 527 in southern Old Bridge.

Groundbreaking on the first of two phases of park construction is expected to take place in mid-October, according to Freeholder Stephen "Pete" Dalina, who chairs the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

The first phase of construction will include the development of roads, parking areas, three soccer fields, two baseball fields, and a combined walkway and bike path, Albinar said.

Those facilities should be completed by the fall of 2004 when the second phase is scheduled to begin, Dalina explained.

"Starting in the fall will give us a jump before we have to contend with the winter weather," Dalina said.

A comfort station, playground, and cricket pitches will be developed in the second phase, he noted.

Marsellis-Warner’s $4.37 million bid was the lowest of the six bids received by the county freeholders, Albinar said. The highest bid was $6.7 million, he added.

Once completed, Phillips Park will be the first county park in Old Bridge, Dalina noted.

"The facilities to be located at this park are sorely needed by local residents and I am certain that they will be welcomed and used to the greatest extent," Dalina said.

The park and preserve are named for the late John A. Phillips, a one-time Old Bridge Democratic mayor and county freeholder.

Phillips’ son, Middlesex County Treasurer James T. "Jim" Phillips, agreed with Dalina that Old Bridge residents will benefit from the park’s expected amenities.

"We’re the third largest municipality in Middlesex County," Phillips said. "We certainly can use these recreational facilities."

Phillips, who is the Democratic mayoral candidate in Old Bridge, praised the freeholders for their ongoing efforts to develop the park.

"It’s great recognition not only for my father, but for the whole Township of Old Bridge," Phillips said.

The entire Phillips Park should be open to the public in 2005, Dalina stated.

"The opening of Phillips Park will allow the soccer and baseball fields sufficient time to establish themselves so they will be ready for use at the same time as all the other facilities," he said.