Dog park in works for Heavenly Farms
Town preparing plans for dog section, access road, parking lot
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — The township will soon begin work on a dog park at the recently purchased Heavenly Farms property, Cranbury Road.

Mayor William Neary said the dog park section will be close to the site’s Dunhams Corner Road access point. The section is the first step in the development of the 147-acre tract the township closed on in March. The property cost $12.1 million, with the state, county and township all contributing funds.

Also currently in the works for Heavenly Farms are a new parking lot planned and an access road connecting to nearby Dideriksen Park, which is located off Cranbury Road adjacent to the Middlesex County Fairgrounds.

“The purpose is to let dogs have fun,” Neary said of the dog park. “They can run around in the fenced area. There will also be benches there and water, as well as mutt mitts to pick up after your dog.”

Small dogs will be sectioned off from the larger ones for safety, he said.

Part of the reason for the park is so dog owners can enjoy some relaxation, Neary said, noting that many people find it calming to watch the dogs at play.

Another reason for the park is that many dog owners who live in smaller homes or townhouses have no place to let their dogs run free.

“And with our leash laws, dogs seldom spend much time off a leash,” he said.

The idea for the park came from residents who saw the benefits of the dog park that opened recently in Middlesex County-owned Thompson Park, at the border of Monroe and Jamesburg, Neary said. The parks are also popular in New York City.

East Brunswick was recently awarded a $125,000 Livable Communities Grant from the state, which will cover the entire cost of the dog park, Neary said. The park, which will take up about 1 acre, is slated to begin construction in the spring. It won’t take long to finish, Neary said.

“This is simple to do, and we’re not taking up a lot of space, so we’ll get to do it soon. This is the beginning of the phasing in of the development of Heavenly Farms,” he said.

The majority of the Heavenly Farms site will be kept as is, officials have said, although a portion will likely be used for a multiuse facility. Officials have said they expect the park’s eventual uses to be determined over a period of years, but sports fields and other amenities are among the many possibilities discussed.

The township will soon construct a parking lot so people have easier access to the soccer fields on nearby property purchased from the Middlesex County Fairgrounds Association. The township will get possession of the two fields as part of its $1.1 million purchase of about 9 acres of the fairgrounds, the mayor said.

There will be an access road of about 3,000 feet in length, running from Dunhams Corner Road to the parking lot, he said. It will end the days of Dideriksen Park being landlocked. Residents have had to traverse the fairgrounds to get to Dideriksen.

The parking lot will also allow the township to stop depending on the fair association’s remaining property for parking. Neary said the new parking lot will have about as many spots as are now used on the fair association’s land.

The mayor also said that unless people are parking to use the soccer fields, the walk from the lot to Dideriksen will be about the same length as the walk from the fairground’s parking to Dideriksen.

The 15-acre Dideriksen Park and the fairgrounds property are used for soccer, football and other activities including the township’s Fourth of July celebration. The fair association still owns the majority of the 48-acre fairgrounds, and will continue to use the tract for its own activities.