Boys & Girls Club adds spray park to summer fun
Date: 8/1/2012
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — Some of his critics may say Mayor Michael Bissonnette is all wet, but last week the mayor was literally all wet.
Bissonnette joined many of the children attending the Chicopee Boys & Girls Club trying out the new spray park that opened in conjunction with the summer camp.
Club Executive Director Betsy Daley explained the club wanted to offer more features to the children attending its programs, but taking them to the state swimming pool nearby was prohibitive due to the number of people already using the pool and the "brutal" costs of transportation.
Daley said that several years ago former Club Board President James Bugbee had suggested the idea.
"He thought it would be a great idea if we could pull it off," she said.
Allowing the club to make the spray park a reality was the allocation of $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding from the city. Daley said a pool would be cost prohibitive to maintain and carries liabilities a spray park doesn't.
Construction on the water feature started earlier this year and Daley said one more addition to it would be made shortly.
The Club plans to invite members of the neighborhood to use the spray park and it will be featured during a community barbeque on Aug. 24. Daley said, though, it cannot be left on all the time. She hopes to have the spray park available to the members of the club as long as the weather allows.
"As a former Club kid, who grew up across the street, I wish I had this when I was a kid,' Bissonnette said.
