The installation of 80 LED bollards lights along Franklin Avenue Fields fits into the borough’s larger open space objective.
Franklin Avenue Fields will be brightened with more than just the exuberance of Berlin soccer fans.
After a resolution was passed by Council at the Oct. 12 meeting, the soccer field pathway lighting initiative is officially underway, with construction set to begin and end within the next week.
Nearly 80 four-foot bollard LED lights will be installed along two concrete paths that weave around the northern and eastern parameters of the Franklin Avenue Fields. The trails give way to the Berlin Community Center, Berlin Community School and, eventually, the revamped Berlin Farmer’s Market.
Satisfying both safety and recreational goals, the pathway is one component in the borough’s master vision regarding open space.
“Illumination on paths is certainly a safety addition and consideration and mitigation for any types of nefarious activity,” said Councilman Michael Buchanan, the chairman of Health and Recreation. “We want to channel a safe route to the business corridor. … The lighting provides more recognition to use that path.”
Along with Buchanan, the illumination idea was sparked by Dr. Tony Lafferty, who resides next to the field, and Berlin Soccer Club Treasurer John Cole.
Buchanan initially connected with Lafferty and Cole when the three applied for a $25,000 Recreation Facility Enhancement grant from Camden County in 2016. With a majority of the funds going toward the buffering of the field and soccer equipment, $5,600 was preserved for the pathway.
“Public and private organizations came together,” Buchanan said. “The propensity that we have and that is in the air in Berlin — we’re working together. Some of this just unfolds providentially.”
This year, Cole applied for the same $25,000 grant. The entirety of it is going toward the pathway lighting.
“I have worked with Berlin Athletic Association and Berlin Community School Board on projects to benefit all of the children. The recent grants for Berlin Soccer have been some of the most rewarding,” Lafferty said.
Pennoni engineering was hired for the project, which will cost roughly $89,000, according to the Oct. 12 council agenda. The remaining portion will come out of the borough’s capital budget for recreation improvements. It will not affect the operating budget for the borough, according to Buchanan.
The project is transpiring amid other recreational initiatives on county and local levels.
At the Oct. 12 meeting, council also adopted the Simone Farm Ordinance.
The deal is a joint purchase between the borough and the Berlin Farmer’s Market of a 24-acre parcel at 41 Clementon Road. A property previously zoned as residential, the project will prevent the construction of nearly 90 single-family homes.
The Berlin Farmer’s Market will acquire 10 acres, which will be zoned commercial. The remaining 14 acres, owned by the borough, will be zoned as open space.
The Berlin Farmer’s Market is granting an easement, allowing the construction of a trail that will connect the property to the county park, which is only about a half of a mile from the business corridor on the White Horse Pike.
Concurrently, Mayor James Bilella recently advocated for the painting of a bike path on Berlin-Clementon Road. The revamped Farmer’s Market will bridge the soccer pathway to the bike path.
“(The bike path and the pathway lighting) are parallel in improving mobility outside of cars,” Buchanan said.
Along with open space objectives, the soccer pathway acts as a thoroughfare connecting the immediate area, as the lights make a safe route for evening events at the community center and afterschool Community Education/Recreation programs at BCS. It also provides safe routes for residents of the area, such as those living in the Lonaconing developments and Carriage Stop townhomes.
Buchanan attributes the achievement of the soccer pathway lighting to the persistent process of residents recognizing a problem, reaching out to local officials and configuring a solution together.
“I took the vision of a resident and their willingness to apply,” Buchanan said. “I learn from them and, hopefully, many others will learn from this — that they can be part of something that helps the town.”
