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Municipalities Look to Residents To Help Name Great Road Park
Matthew Hersh
The naming of the park that used to be a parcel of the former Coventry Farm, owned by the Winant family, is the goal of a contest that would ensure that the name of the new park reflects the will of the community.
As is often the case with newly-built academic halls and swaths of open space in the area, naming public and private entities often means using the name of the highest bidder.
But with the still-to-be-named park on the Great Road preparing for its October 8 grand opening, local officials are attempting a more inclusive name search: one that does not necessarily cost millions.
"It's very much the same type of process that went into the naming of Greenway Meadows," said Linda Mead, executive director of the Delaware & Raritan Greenway land trust, which, with help from state grants and loan assistance, put up about $8.5 million to acquire the land in 2001. Princeton Borough and Township contributed a combined $1 million.
Greenway Meadows, the park that opened in 2004 on Rosedale Road across from Johnson Park Elementary School, was also a D&R Greenway project. If that name sounds as though it resembles D&R Greenway, that is because it does, in part. The land trust organization will move their headquarters, the Johnson Education Center, to a converted farm on the site this fall.
"I think the last time we did this, we probably had about 50 names that people submitted," Ms. Mead said, with most of them "interesting, innovative" names that represented either the purpose or location of the park. "That's what we're hoping will come out of this as well."
Ms. Mead said she hoped that the Great Road park's open views, community access, and the historic component related to the Winant's Coventry Farm would inspire someone to come up with just the right name. She added, however, that she was pleased the Borough and Township did not automatically choose "Coventry Farm."
"Let's think about all the different aspects of the park and let the community decide," she said.
While the park, which will include one small and one full-sized soccer field and two youth baseball fields, is the primary focus of the naming campaign, the entire 165-acre Coventry Farm had long been eyed as a site for age-restricted housing. In 2001, D&R Greenway, the Borough and Township, NJ DEP Green Acres Program, Friends of Princeton Open Space, and several private families succeeded in keeping the space preserved. Of the 165 acres, 50 were deeded to the Township with 28 of those acres slated for so-called "passive" recreation, and 22 designated for the playing fields. The remaining acreage will continue to serve as open space.
"We need to keep up with the demand," said Executive Director of the Princeton Recreation Department Jack Roberts, who cited a nation-wide crunch affecting venues for youth sports for municipalities.
"This provides the opportunity for youth baseball teams to find a field they can practice on during the week ‹ something Little League has not been able to do," he said.
"All of this loosens the stranglehold on the availability of field space so these programs can expand."
In the meantime, a panel will be assembled comprising representation from Township Committee, Borough Council, Greenway, the Recreation Department Board to weigh name submissions, said Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand.
Entries can be submitted to the Princeton Recreation Department at 380 Witherspoon Street in Princeton. The holder of the winning entry will receive two tickets to "A Stony Brook Stroll" on May 21 of next year. The event will feature a guided walk of the Stony Brook, concluding with a lobster bake at the Johnson Education Center. Entries are due by September 23.
