FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 29, 2009
Upper Nazareth Township – UPPER NAZARETH TOWNSHIP ANNOUNCES GRAND OPENING OF “TUSKES PARK OF UPPER NAZARETH”
The Upper Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors is pleased to announce the public grand opening of “Tuskes Park of Upper Nazareth” on Sunday May 3, 2009 from 1 to 4 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend and activities will include free hot dogs, soda, Rita’s ice; face painting; karate demonstrations by Action Karate; and music by The Deadliners as well as, prizes for the kids. The Upper Nazareth Township Fire Department will have fire trucks and their safety/smoke demonstration trailer for residents to see firsthand, while the Upper Nazareth Township Police Department and EMS will provide information to residents regarding safety procedures and other programs.
“We want to encourage as many people as possible to attend the grand opening, so the residents of Upper Nazareth can see first-hand and take great pride in, what so many people have worked so hard to achieve,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Joe Emrick.
The park is named after Charles Tuskes of Tuskes Home Builders, who provided the 33 acres of land upon which the park now rests. Some amenities of the park now include, a men’s baseball field with lights, 2 softball fields, one with lights, one soccer, one football and one lacrosse field, a walking path, a playground, volleyball court, a refreshment stand and storage building and 2 parking lots.
According to the 2006 Nazareth Area Multi-municipal Comprehensive Plan, Upper Nazareth Township owned just 4.8 acres of recreational open-space. A goal and recommendation of the plan stated that the township should own at least 48 acres of such open-space and the development and dedication of this park has gone a long way toward achieving that goal.
“Open-space preservation is a major issue for the residents of our township. This is a tremendous step toward achieving our goal of preserving space all Upper Nazareth citizens and their children can look forward to for years to come,” said Emrick.
The park is located between Nazareth and Bath on Route 248 one half mile west of the traffic light at Route 946 (Daniels Road) and Route 248. A rain date is set for Sunday May 17.
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12 comments:
I am curious and not trying to be too sarcastic but would someone please explain to me why there is so much focus on a lighted baseball field in a township that does not have baseball teams? All of the boys from Upper Nazareth (and Tatamy and Stockertown) play ball in Nazareth Borough.
I was thinking the exact same thing..
me too
Bocarex- It didn't seem to me that there was "so much focus" on the baseball field. It seemed to be just one of the listed items to me.
I believe that the Nazareth borough teams are only from T ball to 6th grade, and they only play on 45 foot or 60 foot base, little league size fields.
If you haven't seen the field at Tuskes Park, the baseball field is a men's/high school size field (400 foot center, 90 foot bases etc.) of which there seems to me to be a lack of in this area.
There are many leagues, both teen and men, in the Nazareth area that need and use that size field.
Thank you, Scotts. I have been curious about this for a long time and you have finally answered my question.
Kudos to UNT for getting something of benefit from the land eaters. There were many missed opportunities for similarly leveraging the builders, who made millions, during the build-out of our townships. At least they nailed this one.
I would have to disagree. UNT allowed Tuskes to build something like twice the number of homes than what zoning permitted in exchange for these facilities.
I agree these developers should be required to do more when they are adding hundreds of homes, but this is not a good example.
I've made several posts on the subject.
You are absolutely right.
I was just looking for a bright spot in all of this, and at least they got SOMETHING. Take a look at all the development in Bushkill and Lower. Compared to them, UNT looks like a negotiating machine.
totally agree... we foot the bill for the new school, and they put up a $25,000 baseball field (on there land)... hey thanks!! man--nazareth has become a disgrace
Ryan,
Just to be clear, that new park is owned by Upper Nazareth Township. I wasn't sure by your comment if you thought it was still owned by Tuskes.
Also, think the cost would have been much more than $25,000. I think the township did the best they could given the circumstances. Better to have a park, than not. You know and I know the land would have been developed anyway. Better to have a park and higher denisty of homes, than 1800 unit apartment building as they originally wanted to build.
Oh yeah, im not disagreeing there... but maybe cutting the number of homes to be built in the first place would have helped.. They build a baseball field ?? big deal.. 200 new homes = having to build a new school for all the kids.. to me, not a great deal for the taxpayers.. but hey whats done is done..
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