Township of Woodbridge Receives an Excellence in Design Award

The Township of Woodbridge was presented the Excellence in Design Award for Athletic Facility for the Cypress Park Recreation Complex at the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association (NJRPA) Annual Awards Ceremony at the Summit Family Aquatic Center in Summit, NJ. Mike Mcclelland (CME Associates), Chris Kosty (Project Manager, Woodbridge Township), Brian Molnar (Director of Recreation, Woodbridge Township), Brianne Ludlow (Recreation Department, Woodbridge Township) were present on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 to accept this award.

Cypress park was designed to complement the Cypress Recreation Center, which is contracted to provide care and educational opportunities to the special needs adult community. The focal point of Cypress Park is the level playing field for baseball & soccer and a state of the art greenhouse, which provides the special needs community physical fitness and educational opportunities. The park, which is the Township’s first level playing field, was built with their special needs community, "Our House", and Woodbridge Buddy Ball (a physically challenged youth sports organization) in mind. There are also Pickleball and volleyball courts at the park, and a walking tract with physical fitness equipment around the outskirts. Part of the funding for the project came from a $1.5 million Recreational Facilities Special Needs Improvement grant from the State of NJ.

The biggest challenge for the designers at CME Consulting was how to manage the use of the land and put a robust park design into an extremely limited space. Well, they certainly figured out how to do it, because Cypress Park is used daily by the residents in town, and not just the special needs community. ALL youth sports organizations utilize the facility, and even the high school’s sports teams have inquired about using it.

The New Jersey Recreation and Park Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting parks and recreation; enhancing the professional development of its members; advocating sound policy and stewardship related to parks, recreation, resource management, and leisure services; and increasing awareness of the value of play and preservation of the environment to interested citizens and the public.

The purpose of the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association’s Awards Program is to honor and identify dedicated leaders, employees, and volunteers in the field of Parks and Recreation, and to recognize the State’s outstanding Recreation and Park agencies for excellence in programming, publicity, and facility design. The goal of the Awards Program is to focus State attention on the achievement of Park and Recreation agencies, to recognize the continuing efforts of staff and volunteers, and to acknowledge support extended by member agencies.