Township’s oldest park renovated, improved EAST BRUNSWICK — Nearly $300,000 worth of improvements to Welsh Park have been completed and will be celebrated in a ceremony Saturday. The 26-acre park, located on Gordon Avenue near Summerhill Road, received new facilities and upgrades during a construction project over the spring and summer. The $293,000 project was aided by $151,000 in federal Community Development Block Grants. The improvements are similar to those made in several other East Brunswick parks in recent years, with the primary focus being to bring it into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and Consumer Product Safety requirements, according to the township’s Department of Parks and Public Works. The oldest municipal park in East Brunswick, having been built in the 1950s, Welsh Park has an actively used Little League baseball field and a basketball court, along with playground, picnic and natural areas. Recently completed improvements include two fully accessible playgrounds — one for 2- to 5-year-olds and another for 5- to 12-year-olds — the paving and expansion of the parking lot to increase spaces from 20 to 42; resconstruction and enlargement of the existing half-court basketball facility; and the development of a paved pedestrian walkway through the park, with entrances from Dobson Road and Brookdale Road. Additionally, new benches, picnic tables, a grill, and trash and recycling containers were put in; security lighting was improved; and landscaping, seeding and tree maintenance was completed. Township officials set out to renovate the park in 2001 when the Township Council authorized $30,000 for its design and contracted with Schoor DePalma, Manalapan, for that work. The township mailed a questionnaire to 700 residents in the surrounding developments, seeking input on facilities and improvements residents would like to see at the park. More than 10 percent of the questionnaires were completed and returned. Officials also held two public meetings in 2002 to review options and plans for the park. Following a bidding process, a contract was awarded to Star of the Sea Concrete Corp., Old Bridge, last December to complete the work. The township has also performed improvements at Sadowski, Washington Heights, Country Lane, Dideriksen and Bicentennial parks over the last few years. Mayor William Neary will rededicate Welsh Park at 11 a.m. Saturday.