Spec Pond revitalization continues to make progress
Date: 9/4/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comWILBRAHAM — Large and evident strides toward the completion of the Spec Pond revitalization project have been made over the past couple of months, offering new, updated resources to people in the community.
"It's really exciting because for years now, between what the [Wilbraham Friends of Recreation] and what we've done here, there's been a lot done with fund-raising, but you haven't seen much in the way of progress," Bryan Litz, director of Parks and Recreation, said. "Now, all of a sudden, we've got about $1 million worth of work that took place in two months. It's been an exciting time."
One of the major improvements to the facility is the new playground, which was sponsored primarily by a $75,000 donation from Country Bank. After a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 6, 2011, the construction of playground equipment was completed in early June, thanks to a community build that brought out 100 people.
"The playground is about 80 percent done," Litz said. "All the structures are there and open and it really looks nice. It came out better than we had envisioned."
The 20 percent of the project that remains includes the creation of a Country Bank archway, a perimeter fence and the resolving of some accessibility issues from the playground to the beach.
Two new basketball courts were also built in a new location, replacing the existing courts next to one of the baseball diamonds.
"We had two old courts that were in a precarious position in regards to foul balls from the baseball field, so we knew we had to move them," Litz said. "We had to get that done before the summer basketball league started in July and we were able to get it done maybe about a week after the season started."
Like the playground, while the courts are functional, some work remains, including landscaping.
Seventeen light towers serving three fields were also erected in August with the hopes that games in the spring of 2013 will be played under the lights.
"The structures are up, but we have to do all of the wiring," Litz said. "We'll spend the next two months getting that done."
In addition to the wiring of the lights, other projects that Litz hopes to cross off his list in the coming months are the establishment of additional water and sewer connections and the creation of additional parking, all of which have been budgeted.
In total, Litz said that approximately $4 million in work has been done to Spec Pond thus far and he is thrilled with the results.
"I'm ecstatic, especially when you look at the way things are economically speaking and the way we put together a very ambitious master plan and plan on how to raise funds for that through donations," he said. "We've done $4 million worth of work in one of the worst economic times in our history and we've done it all through businesses and donors stepping up and really believing in Spec Pond and the vision that we had."
That doesn't mean that the project is finished, however.
Litz said that fundraising efforts would continue as he looks toward more improvements, including the establishment of walking paths throughout the park.
"We have stretches of sidewalk and walking paths, but nothing really connects. We would like to do a stone dust path that all connects so you can get around the whole facility, he said. "We have people who walk around here a lot during lunch breaks with all the businesses around, so we'd really like to have a couple mile loop around the whole facility, including Post Office Park."
Litz, who explained that the pavilion, which was originally built by the Lions Club in 1960, couldn't support the kind of events that take place there now, also eyes upgrades to that structure.
"It was built for small-scale events. We're hosting 300-plus people down there," he said.
Among the major issues is the need for an upgraded kitchen space. As an example, Litz explained that while the Parks and Recreation Department currently has two industrial-sized refrigerator-freezers, it can only use one of them at a time because of improper ventilation.
"One of them sits idle because if you plug them both it, it gets to be 130 degrees in there," he said.
Security in the office space at the pavilion for camps that run at Spec Pond and a leaky roof also need to be addressed, he said.
Batting cages and dugouts and additional landscaping are other areas that could be looked into, depending on funding.
*** Another renovation project currently underway is also showing signs of progress.
With initial excavation, masonry and plumbing having been in the works since June, "out of the ground" construction has begun at the main fire station on Boston Road, according to Fire Chief Francis Nothe.
"Slow but steady progress by Western Builders of Granby continues on the remodeling and expansion project at Fire Headquarters," Nothe said. "The roofing materials are being installed this week with concrete floors on the west and north sides scheduled to be poured at the end of the week, if all goes well."
Nothe and Building Inspector and Project Manager Lance Trevallion both anticipated when construction began that the station should be operational and occupied by December.
