Mercer County Park

Picnic tables and walking path along the shore of Mercer Lake at Mercer County Park.

The Richard J. Coffee Mercer County Park is a recreational park located mostly within West Windsor in Mercer County, New Jersey. Originally and still more commonly known as simply Mercer County Park, it was renamed for New Jersey State Senator Richard J. Coffee on October 15, 2009.^[1] The park encompasses over 2,500 acres (10 km²) covering much of southern West Windsor, with portions extending into adjacent Hamilton and Lawrence. Mercer Lake, located within the park, is the home for the US Olympic Rowing Team's training center.^[2] The National Softball Association awarded the Mercer County Park Commission with its "Outstanding Parks Award" for the softball fields and facilities in Mercer County Park. It has served as the home field for the New Jersey Pride of the Major League Lacrosse for one game in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

History

The land was acquired between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. It consists of 50-plus pieces of property, which included many farms. Ground was broken for the park in June 1971. Because of the construction of Routes I-95 and I-295, the lake basin was excavated and paid for by selling gravel to the highway contractors, which in turn helped excavate the basin now known as Lake Mercer.

Facilities

• 17 athletic fields used for soccer, American football, and lacrosse
• ice skating center (home to the Mercer Bulldogs special hockey team )
• tennis center (24 total courts - six of which are covered and are lit)
• cross country course
• mountain biking area
• boat house/marina
• Finn Casperson Rowing Center
• crew course
• nature trail
• fishing
• hiking and jogging area
• bike trail and inline skating trail
• picnic areas
• dog parks
• 3 sand volleyball courts
• 2 cricket pitches
• 7 basketball courts
• 10 softball fields
• Veterans Memorial Park
• parking facilities
• 7 washrooms
• 9/11 Memorial - A steel beam weighing one ton and ten feet long was given to the county by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in March 2011 and is now displayed at Mercer County Park to commemorate the deceased Mercer County victims that died during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in Lower Manhattan.[15]

References

1. Fair, Matt. "Mercer County Park renamed after politician Richard Coffee", The Times (Trenton), October 17, 2009. Accessed February 22, 2011.
2. "Know, know, know your boat". The Christian Science Monitor. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-12-03.

• "Mercer County Park", Mercer County, New Jersey

Coordinates: 40°16′N 74°39′W / 40.27°N 74.65°W

Mercer Bulldogs Official Website