The largest grants targeted recreational sites in Holyoke and Westfield, including $1.4 million to renovate Veterans Park in Holyoke and $1 million for Westfield to build a greenway.
A Massachusetts Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant of $1.4 million will go toward renovations at Veterans Park in Holyoke.The state on Tuesday announced grants totaling more than $3.6 million for improvements to six parks and recreational sites in the region including a $1.4 million grant to renovate Veterans Park in Holyoke.
Across Massachusetts, the grants totaled $14 million under the state’s
Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) Program and the Gateway Cities Parks Program.
Holyoke and Westfield received the gateway grants, as follows:
• Holyoke – Veterans Park Renovation – $1.4 million for the renovation of the park including the addition of handicap accessible ramps, new pavement, tree removal and pruning, tree planting, new lighting, fencing, trash receptacles and benches.
• Westfield – Columbia River Greenway – $1 million for the city to build a greenway along an abandoned rail line from the city’s border with the town of Southwick to the Little River, a distance of just over a mile. The greenway will provide bicycle travel and hiking that will connect to trails in Northampton and other trails to the north.
“This is fabulous news for the city,” Holyoke Parks and Recreation Director Teresa M. Shepard said of the Veterans Park grant. “It’s one of our downtown parks, and is such a nice tie-in to the transportation center and Holyoke Community College. It has been a tired park.”
The project basically keeps the same design, “just sprucing it up and making it more user friendly,” she said.
Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik praised the state and Gov. Deval L. Patrick for allowing the greenway construction to proceed, expected in the spring. The initial line in Westfield will connect Southwick’s portion of the rail-trail that was completed in the summer and bring it to a location on South Broad Street.
“Our intent is to complete roughly one mile of the project this year and then proceed next year to bring the Columbia Greenway trail up to the area of the Great River Bridge,” Knapik said.
Springfield, Northampton, Amherst, and Wilbraham received the PARC grants, as follows:
• Springfield – Hubbard Park – $500,000 for updates to the tennis and basketball courts, grading and drainage for the ball fields, new perimeter fencing, handicap accessible paths, a new parking lot and a new picnic grove. The project is expected to cost close to $1 million including the state grant, federal funds and $280,000 paid by UniFirst Corp., which purchased a half-acre strip of the park for its parking needs.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the grant for Hubbard Park in Indian Orchard is “great news” for the neighborhood and city. The grant “fits right into our continuing efforts to enhance and improve our green space and park areas,” he said.
• Northampton – Florence Recreation Fields – $500,000 for the development of a new park that includes five multi-use fields, one 60-foot baseball diamond and one 90-foot baseball diamond, a parking lot, a multi-purpose path along the property, playground, pavilion, rest rooms and a concession and storage building.
“This is excellent,” said Anne-Marie Moggio, the director of the Northampton Recreation Department. “It’s a testament to the project and to how the state views it.” The city bonded $1.9 million for the project, as awarded by the Community Preservation Committee, that can be reduced by $500,000 due to the grant.
Thanks to the state money, Moggio said the project will probably go out to bid this winter and teams could be playing ball on the new fields by summer 2014.
• Amherst – Community Field Rehabilitation – $208,320 for the installation of a liner for the pool, new concrete decking, fencing and lighting for safety, new drain lines and piping to fix significant water leaks, replacement of the filtration system and upgrades to the filter house, new benches, lifeguard chairs, shade structures, water fountains and improvements to the pool house.
Amherst Town Manager John Musante hailed the grant, saying it will allow the War Memorial Pool to reopen this summer.
• Wilbraham – Spec Pond Recreational Area Renovation Project – $39,040 for the design costs for the planned renovations.
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray announced the grants, saying that parks are “key resources that strengthen the fabric of communities across Massachusetts.”
Staff reporters Ted LeBorde and Fred Contrada contributed to this story.