This 256-acre parcel, one of the largest open parcels in the area, is located in the Skillman section of Montgomery Township, in the center of western Montgomery. Much of the property is field or woodland open space. Rock Brook and its tributaries are surface water features of the property. The parcel is surrounded on two sides by the Selody Sod Farm and Hunter Farms. The Township purchased the property from the State of New Jersey in 2007, and after remediation of the site, sold it to Somerset County in 2011 to create the park. At the time of purchase from the State, Montgomery Twp. also purchased and then upgraded for further use, an adjacent wastewater treatment facility on 7 acres located off Burnt Hill Road behind the State-owned Skillman Dairy Farm.
The property originally consisted of six large farms. These lands were purchased by the State of New Jersey for the establishment in 1898 of the “New Jersey State Village for Epileptics” at Skillman, during a time when there was no known treatment for epilepsy. The village layout was designed by noted Landscape Architect/Engineer Charles W. Leavitt in 1901. For many years it operated as a self-contained “town” that consisted of hospitals, housing, farms, maintenance areas, schools, a theater, a power plant, a wastewater treatment facility, cemeteries, and an on-site landfill. It was one of the first such facilities in the United States.
In the mid-twentieth century, with the discovery of medicines for the treatment of epilepsy, the facility’s focus shifted, and in 1952 it became the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Institute, a research center for the treatment of epilepsy, mental illness, drug addiction, and alcoholism. From 1975 until 1998, the property was the “North Princeton Developmental Center” or NPDC, a New Jersey Department of Human Services’ residential facility for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.
In 2007 the Township of Montgomery purchased the now inactive facility/property and the adjoining wastewater treatment facility from the State of New Jersey. In acknowledgment of its unique early history, Montgomery Twp. referred to the property as “Skillman Village”, and took on all necessary remediation issues, while plans for mixed-use redevelopment were being formulated.
Until 2007 there remained over 100 State buildings on the property, mostly in substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, and/or obsolescent condition. The property was essentially a brownfield, from an environmental perspective. Ninety-two of these buildings were abated and demolished in the summer of 2007 by the Township of Montgomery. The few remaining buildings were boarded up while being considered for potential reuse. At the same time, efforts were undertaken to remediate environmental conditions at the site. All asbestos-wrapped steampipes throughout the property, part of the original facilities’ heating system, were removed by fall 2008. While the environmental clean-up work was completed, groundwater monitoring continued. The property was thoroughly remediated and brought into compliance with applicable laws and regulations, ultimately resulting in the issuance of a letter of “No Further Action” by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.
The Township invited proposals from developers for ambitious redevelopment plans in 2009. Due to the economic downturn, none of the handful of short-listed developers were able to take on the project at that time. Township leadership determined that they should consider other uses for the property.
The Township and Somerset County worked on developing terms for the transfer of ownership of the property and plans for its reuse as a passive recreation county park throughout 2010 and arrived at a final agreement in 2011. The remaining derelict buildings from the property’s days as North Princeton Developmental Center were remediated and removed in the Summer of 2011. The actual property closing transaction between Montgomery Township and Somerset County occurred on October 25, 2011. The purchase was for $15.9 million. This did not include the 7-acre wastewater treatment plant property or another 7 acres of subdivided parcels including the Pine Knolls and Maplewood houses, which remain. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed Maplewood, the last remaining of the three farmhouses, in the fall of 2011. Unsalvageable remnants were raised by the Township’s contractor in the summer of 2012. The Board of Education raized the last remaining NPDC brick building, known as the “Kay Building,” on their property around the same time.
A Planning Committee began meeting in the spring of 2012 to work out the park development details for Skillman Park. This Committee includes three Montgomery residents and three County representatives. The Skillman Park Planning Committee, tasked with developing a comprehensive public access plan for the 247-acre park, included Montgomery Township residents Lysa Wilson and Emad AbouSabé, Township Open Space Committee member Clem Fiori, then Somerset County Freeholder Director Mark Caliguire, and County Administrator Michael J. Amorosa. The County made much-needed improvements to upkeep the trees and grounds on-site. Parking, kiosks, and a 2.2-mile loop trail were complete, as were a dog park, overlook, and other passive recreation amenities. Main Boulevard, which is a public road that transects the park, has been repaved. The official park grand opening was held in April 2015.
