Park entrance slated for improvements
Date: 8/1/2012
By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.comWEST SPRINGFIELD — The Route 20 entrance to Mittineague Park is due for some much-needed upgrades, and Park & Recreation Department Director Victoria Connor hopes a bid for state grant money to fund the work is successful.
"We feel [the park] is underutilized," Connor said. "We want to make it a more attractive area for people to use."
Connor said the town submitted an application to the Massachusetts Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) Program on July 12. Mark Noonan, conservation officer and assistant town planner, drafted the application for the $377,400 grant.
"He got it in at the last minute. He stayed up all night writing it," Mayor Gregory Neffinger said, praising Noonan's efforts to advance a project Connor noted is "near and dear" to the mayor's heart.
She added the PARC Program is "a very competitive grant" that is sought after by nearly every municipality in the state. "We're in contact with the state to see if we need to meet any additional requirements," Connor added, noting the town should receive notification of acceptance or rejection in early fall.
Neffinger said the town's goal with the proposed project is to "make that part of Mittineague Park more accessible" to residents by improving the sidewalks to make them more handicapped accessible, and increasing the parking available to individuals entering the park from Route 20.
Connor said the town hired landscape architects Elmore Design Collaborative Inc of Suffield, Conn., to draft an initial renovation plan, which was submitted with the PARC grant application. The estimated total cost of the project is estimated at $555,000, she added.
Noonan said this PARC grant application, which is similar to the funding the town received to construct the Thomas A. Lagodich Riverfront Park Canoe and Kayak Launch on Riverdale Street, would guarantee up to a 68 percent state reimbursement on designated project expenses. The City Council would need to approve funding the town's 32 percent share of the cost to secure the grant if the application is approved, he added.
Connor said these proposed landscape renovations dovetail with an already-approved plan to renovate the UNICO building in the park. That facility, which was constructed by volunteers from the non-profit service club in the 1970s, is currently used for the town's six-week camp for special needs individuals from 6 to 22 years old. However, Connor noted, the site does not meet current building codes or Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
"Our initiative is to renovate and update [the building] with the goal to move it from a six-week program building to a 10-months-a-year facility," Connor said. "We're looking to move some aerobics classes up there, yoga classes, [and possibly] rent it out as a source of rental income."
There is also talk of creating a Senior Center Annex in the renovated facility. Connor said Jablonski Devriese Architects of Springfield has drafted plans for the UNICO renovations, which are expected to cost $747,716. The Town Council approved that capital expenditure as part of West Springfield's fiscal year 2013 budget in June. Connor added initial discussions about renovating the UNICO building began under the administration of former Mayor Eddward Gibson, but plans were not completed until this year.
