Howe Athletic Complex Opened In Colonial Park

The Howe Athletic Complex in Colonial Park was recently officially opened.

Representatives of the Somerset County Park Commission, state and county officials and members of Gymkhana Cricket Club, Somerset Cavaliers Cricket Club, and Dutch Total Soccer were on hand for the May 22 ribbon-cutting.

Located off Colonial Drive at the northeaster corner of the park, the complex includes two adult soccer fields, three youth soccer fields, and a full sized cricket pitch.

“We have been waiting a long time for a pitch like this,” Aslam Khan of the Cavaliers said in a release about the opening.

Gymkhana’s Rana Aftab said in the release, “It’s a beautiful pitch, perfectly flat as it should be.”

“It’s a great location and a rare thing to have so many fields in the same place,” Jordi Meijer of Dutch Total Soccer said in the release. “We often find ourselves spread out at many school fields but here adult and children’s games can be played at the same time.”

The facility was constructed on the former homestead of Dr. Eugene and Lois Howe, according to the release. The Howe’s placed the funds received from the sale of the property to the county in a trust account to be returned to the Somerset County Park Commission upon their passing. Mrs. Howe passed away in 1995 and Dr. Howe died in 2008. A significant portion of the trust’s assets were used to construct the complex.

Dr. Howe was well known in Franklin for volunteer work that included co-founding the Meadows Foundation that continues today to serve as stewards of early Dutch and American Heritage. His passion for reading, poetry and preservation drove him to also become a volunteer at the former Franklin Inn in East Millstone, a structure that also served as a used bookstore, according to the release.

Dr. Howe was employed as a scientist and researcher at MERCK & Co. where he was awarded 18 patents for his work in isolating and synthesizing amino acids.

Reservations for use of the soccer fields and cricket pitch may be made by online at http://www.somersetcountyparks.org/applications/applications.pdf or by calling the Park Commission at 908-722-1200, ext. 225.

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