Holyoke Public Safety Committee hears updates on remodeling of Springdale Park

Nov. 29, 2022 | Trent Levakis
tlevakis@thereminder.com

HOLYOKE – The Public Safety Committee received an update from Parks and Recreation and the DPW on the remodeling project of Springdale Park during their Nov. 21 meeting.

Director of Parks and Recreation Tom Reynolds joined the committee to provide updates and shared where they are in the remodeling of the park. Reynolds, who just took over as director in the summer, shared they have been following a master plan created for the parks remodeling a few years ago and they have been using it as a guide for the project.

Reynolds said a playground had just been finished in the park this last summer and now they would be looking more into adding to the area. He added he has spent time speaking with City Engineer Kris Baker to think of a way to go off the plan strategically and be methodical in their work.

“Looking at the master plan there are some big-ticket items down there that need to be addressed at some point. It’s going to take some time and money for those, we got some parking lot renovations, the building my parks crew uses has potential to be a visitor center, so we have to relocate my parks crew. Some of that building needs some TLC [tender, loving care],” Reynolds said.

Reynolds added that gating and fencing on the park as well as the wooden guard rails near the filed are needed but will be waited on until contractors are finished with work within the park. He said they are trying to strategically pick out what to do in order to not waste money and work more efficiently.

Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) programs have been used for funding of this project and Reynolds noted they would be attempting to get more funding through the next round of allocation coming in January. A splash pad is one part of the overall project that is looking to get renovated and redone as it is still an often-used thing for families in the summer.

“The idea why we do that splash pad is then we have a brand-new playground down there and have a splash pad right next to it. That gives the park goers, besides using the fields, two big items they can use while they’re down there,” Reynolds said.

The layout is being set as Reynolds also noted a future pickleball court could be added down in park. A goal right now is bringing in the two new items as they continue the overall renovation of the park. Reynolds said they will also be seeking additional funding from other sources outside of CDBG funding, like American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“We’ll be applying for each cycle [of funds] that we can and try and see what we can do to chip away on that master plan for Springdale,” Reynolds said. “Springdale is a great park, so we just want to keep putting some love into it and bring it along as we go.”

Reynolds also noted that they were just notified from the Conservation Office that Springdale was added to the Executive Office of Energy and Environment Affairs’ gateway cities park program for potential funding. The source of funding for this program is the economic development spending bill that just had money re-allocated into it again. It is not a guarantee for the park but is a finalist to receive funding.

Councilor Kocayne Givner asked Reynolds what the timeline was for the project overall. Reynolds said while the playground has been completed, they are in a lull before they find out if they are able to secure funding for a splash pad. He said he hopes by next summer they are nearing completion but would not set it as a concrete deadline and felt a couple years to fill it all out was a better guess.

Reynolds also clarified further that there is not a true set order for the project, but the implementation of a splash pad would more likely be the next big-ticket item added to the park.

Councilor Israel Rivera said as someone who worked on the committee who created this Master Plan, the original idea was for them to secure funding through the Park Grant, but instead they fixed a city pool over the park. He asked for an update on if they would consider a similar plan now that they are back focused on the park.

Councilor Will Puello asked Reynolds if in future discussions he could provide a breakdown of how the money is being spent in this project. He noted that the master plan itself calls for about $5 million in total to be spent on renovations.

“It would be helpful to see what’s actually been done and what’s been funded, and what we’re hoping to fund through certain grants. $5 million, if we really think about it, I feel like we’re going to be waiting on this for a while,” said Puello. It would be really interesting to see where these funding sources are projected to come from.”

Reynolds said he felt the Park Grant avenue for funding was worth looking into as it has potential to allocate a large chunk of money for a certain project based on their allocation in the past for the pool work. He still said it would take a couple years to make the total project come to fruition. The order was complied with and Reynolds will continue working with his team on securing the funding needed to finish restoration and revitalization of the park.

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