LONGMEADOW – Residents overwhelmingly rejected an article calling for the appropriation of $200,000 for additional site analysis for a new Adult Center at Bliss Park during the Oct. 25 Special Town Meeting.

Prior to the meeting, some residents stood to the side of Longmeadow High School’s main entrance with signs in hand protesting the idea of developing parkland in the town. The group  had Joni Mitchell's 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi” playing in the background. The chorus of the song could be easily heard from the parking lot – “They paved paradise. And put up a parking lot.”

Article 7 called for $200,000 to fund architectural and engineering services, including site analysis, site survey, geotechnical soil testing, programming study, traffic study, and a schematic design for the proposed new Adult Center.

The Select Board did not offer a recommendation on the article and the Finance Committee did not recommend funding the article.

“The first factor was the Finance Committee received information that a survey was taken on the satisfaction with the site in question and that survey the majority were satisfied with the current senior center,” Finance Committee member Maury Garrett Jr. said. “The second factor that the Finance Committee considered was that the senior center was not determined to be an urgent priority with respect to some of the other projects or articles that were up for consideration.”

He added the committee is aware of the controversial nature surrounding the site and the question of whether it would be protected by Article 97 of the Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs' land disposition policy, but those factors did not influence its recommendation.

According to Article 97, in order for parklands or open space to be developed the Park Board would need to grant unanimous approval, and Town Meeting as well as the state legislature would need to approve the use by a two-thirds majority.

Park Board Chair David Horowitz said the board unanimously supported the Adult Center Building Committee’s recommendation to build a new Adult Center at Bliss Park.

Adult Center Building Committee Chair Marybeth Bergeron said prior to the vote the Adult Center would consist of approximately three acres. There are about 43 acres of land in Bliss Park. The building committee recommended building the Adult Center in the southwest portion of the park.

“It would provide adequate parking for the trails and ball fields and the basketball court,” she noted. “There would be access to bathroom facilities at the park, which are sorely when the pool closes down … The new recreational center and Adult Center would be for everyone.”

She added the southwest portion of the park is abandoned with haphazard dirt parking.

“Some guy told me he lost his muffler there last week,” Bergeron stated.

She added some of the other sites the building committee investigated and scratched off its list included Wolf Swamp Field, Turner Park, the water tower property, the Cordis property on Longmeadow Street, the former synagogue on Williams Street, Laurel Park, and Greenwood Park.

William Harbison, a resident of Farmington Road and a representative of Longmeadow Citizens to Save Our Parks, said the citizen action group is not opposed to the project, but is against Bliss Park as a site for a new Adult Center.  

“We believe that to place a senior center at Bliss Park would be the start of a slippery slope that would eventually degrade our parks,” he added.

One project that was successfully funded during the Special Town Meeting was for a new $530,000 fire engine to replace the Fire Department’s deteriorating Fire Engine #2, which is more than 20 years old. A majority of residents approved the article calling for the appropriation.

Residents also voted to approve Grande Meadows Tennis Club as the top site for a new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility, which was recommended by the DPW Building Task Force. This was approved by a majority vote. No resident comments were allowed for this article.