The basketball/pickleball court portion of Middlesex County’s new “Buddy Park” at Cooks Corner has been completed and at the board’s Tuesday, July 9, meeting supervisors were expected to consider two bid options for a children’s playground.
The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) created a public park area at Cooks Corner next to the skatepark.
The funding for the creation of the park originally came from a $69,347 grant from Christine Thelma Taylor in honor of her late son Buddy — Horace Taylor Jr. — with the request that the playground be inclusive for special needs.
The Middlesex County Kiwanis Club recently received a grant from the River Counties Communities Foundation in the amount of $50,000 to help with the financing of the playground. The county also will use $55,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds — federal monies received during the 2021 COVID-19 epidemic.
Using these funds and county funds the board authorized a total of $250,000 to go towards the playground.
One bid was for $307,503 from Bliss Incorporated for a blue crab themed playground, with an anchor climber, slides and swing sets. The other bid of $316,759 from Superior/MaxFitPlay with a “Chesapeake Bay Plan” design would include a child-size crab boat with a slide, a fish shack, swing set, crab climber and educational panels.
On Tuesday, July 9, supervisors agreed to allocate $300,000 towards the project.
