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MARCH 2019
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MERCER CAMPS GUIDE TO SUMMER SEE OUR INSERT INSIDE! COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
New park planned at border County seeks input on ‘passive’ facility along Line Road By SiDDharth MuChhal The Mercer County Park Commission’s purchase of a small plot of land on Hughes Drive in Hamilton in 2017 opened up a world of possibilities for the commission and—by extension—county residents. The commission has started planning and researching potential park improvements to a 370-acre parcel called Dam Site 21. The park occupies land where the borders of Hamilton, Robbinsville and West Windsor meet, south of Mercer County Park. The rear of the park would abut Line Road in Robbinsville, and would include the popular fishing spot where Line Road—closed to vehicular traffic—crosses Miry Run.
As part of that planning process, the commission is seeking input from county residents to design a passive recreation park with a focus on using a large lake for water sports. The funds for this restoration process are derived from the county’s Open Space Preservation Trust Fund. Dam Site 21 was planned as part of the Assunpink Creek Watershed Water Works Plan in the early 1960’s, the county’s approach to reduce flood damage and develop water resources in the Assunpink Watershed. The land of Dam Site 21 was bought in the 1970’s, and the dam was built in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service. Since then, the land has been held and used for permanent recreation and conservation of water resources. The lake in Dam Site 21 is around 55 acres, and the nearby area comprises undeveloped uplands, wetlands, woodlands
and open fields. A portion of the Capital to Coast Trail runs along the northern side of the lake from Line Road in Robbinsville to Old Trenton Road in West Windsor. While the area is used by public for fishing and hiking activities, there is currently limited access and amenities. The purchase of 4.5 acres of land fronting Hughes Drive created, for the first time, the potential of direct access to the site from a major roadway. Around a year ago, the park commission began considering revisions to the site to incorporate new ideas. As a first step, the county released a request for qualifications from landscape architects and engineering firms. After reviewing applications and interviews from 13 submissions, the county chose Simone Collins Landscape Architecture, a “somewhat local firm that has deep experience in park planning projects like See PARK, Page 9
At MCCC, kitchen serves as classroom Township chef leads student-run café By Joe eManSKi
jemanski@communitynews.org
Katie Kratz stands still as Neleus, a statue brought to life, during a dress rehearsal for Pond Road Middle School’s presentation of “Mar y Poppins” Feb. 7, 2018 at the Robbinsville High School performing arts center. For more photos from the show, turn to Page 18. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
One of the best-kept dining secrets in central New Jersey can be found on Monday nights in room ES111 of the Engineering Systems Building at Mercer County Community College. In that low-slung brick building, for eight weeks a semester, culinary students make and serve three-course dinners to the public. Any hungry person with a reservation can sit down for a starter, main course and
dessert, for as little as $11. The venue is called the Viking Café. By creating a restaurant setting in the classroom, Mercer gives students in its Applied Kitchen Skills class a hands-on opportunity to learn how a restaurant functions. Rising chefs and bakers work under the watchful eye of chef instructor Frank Benowitz, a Robbinsville resident and member of the college’s Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management and Culinary Arts program. The Viking Café also gives diners an opportunity to enjoy a thoughtfully prepared meal at a fraction of what it would cost in a for-profit restaurant. Yet they can expect a meal
worth that price and more. The students may be learning, but that doesn’t mean they are inexperienced. Many work or have worked part time or full time in professional kitchens. And Benowitz always looks to source quality ingredients, locally when possible. For the Café, students work in pairs at various stations in the kitchen. Benowitz assigns them certain food preparation tasks in the hours before service. Between 6:15 and 7 p.m., when guests arrive, one member of each pair stays in the kitchen to take the lead in finishing their assigned dishes. The other goes out into the dining room See CAFE, Page 10
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