“Let there be light” was the decree of the Tabernacle Township committee as a contract for electrical construction at the
Patty Bowker Park concession stand was authorized at its March 24 meeting.
Ranco Construction Inc. of Southampton submitted a bid of $29,000, which was the lowest qualified bid. Ranco has been in business for more than 30 years specializing in government and military projects. Bidders that were unsuccessful were D.P. Murt of Pennsauken, DEC Electric of West Berlin, Meridian Property Services of Trenton and Lance Electric of Tabernacle.
The construction at Patty Bowker Park has been constant over the last seven years, as the concession stand is one of the final remaining tasks to be completed.
Township administrator Doug Cramer attributed the sluggishness of the project to the fact that the township has exclusively used grant money to complete the renovations. There have been three grant periods staggered over the six years since the project began. The township received $250,000 in grant money from the state and county in 2013.
The project began because previous playground equipment at both Patty Bowker Park and Pricketts Mill Park was unable to meet new fall zone requirements and concerns over treated lumber, making it impossible to continue using the wooden structure. New accessibility requirements from the Americans with Disabilities Act also made the changes for the parks necessary.
The first two phases of the project focused on adding handicap accessible paths or width to the existing paths around the fields. The baseball fields with lighting have completed paths on the first base side as well as connections to Germain Road, which is used to access the fields.
In addition to the path completion, the bleachers will be made handicap accessible. Currently, there is a concrete pad separated from the other seating that those in wheelchairs have had to use.
“Once we have the bleachers completed, the seating will be accessible for all,” Cramer said. “Families won’t have to be separated due to accessibility issues.”
Once construction on the concession stand is completed, the Tabernacle Athletic Association will be responsible for running it. The stand will have improvements that include bathroom facilities, upstairs storage for the athletic association, and storage for the grounds and maintenance in the back.
In other news:
The committee granted approval to South Jersey Gas for four street openings throughout the township for the purpose of gas main installation.
