Selectmen approve pursuit of funding for Spec Pond upgrades

Date: 4/5/2010

April 5, 2010

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



WILBRAHAM -- Bryan Litz, Director of the Wilbraham Parks and Recreation Department, has a goal: he wants to make the Spec Pond complex "as grandiose as possible."

With approvals from the Board of Selectmen at their March 29 meeting, plans to build up the park are becoming more tangible.

Litz, along with the Friends of Recreation group, met with the selectmen on March 22 to present their plans for improvements to the park and how they would fund the changes. The total cost for the project was approximated at $1.8 million; $600,000 has already been secured and used.

"It's an ambitious goal but a lot of people are anxious to see the improvements we have planned," Litz said.

Improvements include completing the 75-foot and 90-foot baseball diamonds (including backstops, dugouts, the actual diamonds being carved out, scoreboards, etc.), landscaping the areas surrounding the fields, improving the concession stand/storage building and the picnic grove, building a softball field, constructing an accessible playground, finishing the parking lot, enhancing the pavilion, creating a spray park and a dog park and setting up lighting for the multipurpose field.

Along with design and construction administration fees and a buffer of 10 percent of the total project cost for overruns, the cost of the remainder of the project is $1,194,000.

The selectmen approved a motion for the Friends of Recreation to pursue a $500,000 PARC grant. Offered by the state's Division of Conservation Services, the PARC (Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities) program was established to assist cities and towns in acquiring and developing land for park and outdoor recreation purposes. The Friends of Recreation applied for the grant in 2008 but were denied. They plan on trying again this year.

The PARC grant works as part of a reimbursement program, so if the town is awarded the grant, a Special Town Meeting would need to take place in November to appropriate the funds.

To come up with the remaining funds, the Friends of Recreation are also applying for a Community Preservation Act (CPA) grant for $250,000 and $344,000 from the Friends of Recreations' fundraising efforts.

The group currently has $100,000 from a previous CPA grant that is being carried over.

Litz explained that at the Annual Town Meeting in May, the Friends of Recreation would need to bond for $206,400 -- 40 percent of the $344,000 needed.

In addition to approving the pursuit of the PARC grant, last Monday the selectmen also approved an Alternative Fund Development Program (Naming Rights) for Spec Pond as a way to raise funds.

"This is the first time something like this is being offered in town," Litz said. "It's very unique at the town level. You see it more at colleges and in large cities. Pretty much everything in the park will be available for naming -- the pond, the fields, bleachers, scoreboards, benches, even the whole complex. Each level will have a different cost associated with it."

Litz said he is eager to move forward with the project.

"The big ticket items, like the fields, were started in 2007," he explained. "Let's continue that momentum . . . The more we fundraise the more we can do. I want Spec Pond to be accessible to all ages and abilities."

Litz added that once the funds are raised he and the Friends of Recreation will be meeting with residents so they can design the park the people want. He said he wants as much community input as possible on the project.

Any individuals or businesses interested in sponsoring something in the Spec Pond complex are invited to contact Litz at 596-2816 or blitz@wilbraham-ma.gov.