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Date: 7/10/2015
AGAWAM – After years of waiting, residents of Agawam can say that School Street Park is officially completed.
The town celebrated the official grand opening of the park on July 1 with special guests and entertainment. Though parts of the park have been open since 2008, the second phase’s completion marks the end of construction.
The addition to the School Street Park includes 40 acres of land, a spray park, a band shell for entertainment and a pavilion. In total, the second phase of the project cost $2.2 million, a combination of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds and a PARC grant from the state.
Residents came out in full force to enjoy the first official day at the park. Kids ran around in the spray park, while families set up chairs to watch Good Acoustics perform as part of the SummerFest concert series.
City and state officials attended the grand opening celebrations, including Mayor Richard Cohen, state Sen. Don Humason, state Rep. Nick Boldyga, City Council President Christopher Johnson, Conservation Commission Chairman Henry Kozlowski and members of the City Council and School Committee.
Boldyga said he was happy for the townspeople to have a positive example of where their money goes.
“All the time in the news and the media we hear all of the negative things that happen with our tax dollars and this one of the amazing, positive things that happens with our tax dollars,” he said. “Thank you to the residents of Agawam.”
Johnson commended the town officials in getting the additions School Street Park up and running.
“On behalf of the council … I want to extend my congratulations. Agawam finally has a first class park, and let me tell you, it took a lot of work on the part of the mayor, the Director of Parks and Recreation [Chris Sparks] and the CPA committee,” Johnson said. “The Council was always happy to support, but the credit really goes to them for a first class park.”