At its April 15 meeting, the Maplewood Township Committee unanimously adopted a motion to allow engineers to move forward with a plan to replace the grass field at DeHart Park with all grass — removing the softball field — and install a new drainage system. The plan to make improvements to DeHart fulfills a promise made by the TC following the defeat of a referendum in November 2021 to replace the grass with artificial turf.
To be clear: A final design and bid specifications have not been approved. Nor has an allocation of funds — although, per Township Committee member Victor DeLuca, “A preliminary working number for the project is $2.5 million.”
“The projected amount will be established based on the field design, including drainage and soil composition,” wrote DeLuca in a followup email to Village Green. “Once the amount is identified, the Township Committee will have to approve a bond ordinance to come up with the funds.”
DeHart Park fields in February 2025.
Meanwhile engineers still need to determine if the field composition will be sand-based or soil/compost-based, and “Consider opportunities to create passive park space in grass areas outside the playing field fence for use by park users for picnics, sitting and other types of non-sports activities.”
The motion passed by the TC also directs the Department of Community Services to evaluate field usage throughout all the town’s parks and “Evaluate the current permit system for field use to ensure it is equitable, fair and transparent and includes time on the field for non-organized, recreation use by park users.” The directive follows feedback from an April 3 meeting in which community members asked that the town balance the use of the field between town-wide sports leagues and more passive uses and organized activities by and for nearby neighbors.
The plan also directs the Dept. of Community Services to “Evaluate field usage at all Maplewood parks to ensure that softball activities are not impacted by the elimination of the DeHart softball field and that other sports, such as Ultimate Frisbee and field hockey, are scheduled for DeHart Park.’ [Note: the South Orange-Maplewood School District has been facing a Title IX lawsuit due, in part, to inequitable allocation of fields for girls softball.]
Per DeLuca, the plan is to keep the field in use through 2025, bid the project in late 2025/early 2026, perform construction in 2026, and reopen the field in 2027.
RELATED: Maplewood Presents Design for Reconfigured DeHart Park Playing Fields
Read the plan here:
DeHart Park
Report from Engineering, Public Works & Planning Committee
April 15, 2025
1. The Committee supports the recommendation of the Township Engineer and consulting engineers VHB to reconstruct the DeHart Park playing field as an all-grass field that is based on high school sports dimensions, can accommodate multiple sports, and eliminates the existing softball field. The Committees agrees that the new design will permit the resting of portions of the field from organized sports play, allowing grass to grow and be healthy.
2. The Committee asks the Engineering Team to:
a. Evaluate and report on the positives and negatives of using a sand based versus a soil/compost based field;
b. Evaluate and report on the capacity of the current stormwater drainage system to accommodate the water from the field and that the use of this drainage system would not cause neighborhood flooding;
c. Include more tree planting along the perimeter of the playing field fence and in other parts of DeHart Park; and
d. Consider opportunities to create passive park space in grass areas outside the playing field fence for use by park users for picnics, sitting and other types of non-sports activities.
3. The Committee asks the Department of Community Services to:
a. Evaluate the current permit system for field use to ensure it is equitable, fair and transparent and includes time on the field for non-organized, recreation use by park users;
b. Develop an overall field management plan for DeHart and all Maplewood parks to ensure that fields are not over-scheduled, and enforcement practices, including rules of field usage and the open/closed status of all parks, is clearly communicated to residents;
c. Evaluate field usage at all Maplewood parks to ensure that softball activities are not impacted by the elimination of the DeHart softball field and that other sports, such as Ultimate Frisbee and field hockey, are scheduled for DeHart Park; and
d. Consider offering more Department field programs in DeHart Park.
4. The Committee asks the Department of Public Works to:
a. Evaluate the recommended field maintenance plan for DeHart and create a similar maintenance plan for all Maplewood parks/athletic fields; and
b. Report on the cost to perform the recommended field maintenance at DeHart and other Maplewood parks, either though in-house operations or a private contractor.
5. The Committee acknowledges that Maplewood will no longer have a lighted softball field. Future consideration should be given to the installation of lights in another Maplewood park to accommodate evening softball practices and games.
