CHICOPEE — With the summer here, Chicopee parks may be receiving some upgrades that people can use or enjoy.
During the June 18 City Council meeting, Mayor John Vieau discussed approximately $39,100 for park improvements from available funds in the Department of Public Works parks salary account.
He said, “This is to do numerous smaller but necessary improvements in a few of our 30 parks.”
Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Ben Strepka said that the improvements include replacing some worn out furnishing throughout the parks that have “outlived their useful life.”
The improvements include player benches for the baseball diamonds at Szot Park, Rivers Park and Lincoln Grove Park, a spiral slide at Williams Park playground and park furniture including permanent trash cans along the Connecticut River bike path and replacing multiple grills throughout picnic areas that have reached their expiration date.
The City Council unanimously approved the funding and also discussed it during the meeting.
Ward 9 City Councilor Mary-Beth Pniak-Costello said she thanks the Park and Recreation Department for their proposal and mentioned the benefits of some of the proposed upgrades.
“One of the upgrades is for special permanent trash receptacles to help reduce the amount of litter. That’s fantastic in the city. Litter has been a problem and so they’re trying to be creative and to address it,” Pniak-Costello said.
These changes come after members of the Parks and Recreation Commission stared working with city planners on how to upgrade Szot Park.
Although they will only be getting new benches for the baseball field, the commission is still working on creating a plan to make Szot Park a place where the community wants to go.
Phase 1 of the Abbey Brook restoration project is still ongoing.
Abbey Brook is a small waterway that rises in Springfield and flows through Szot Park before emptying into the Chicopee River.
Abbey Brook’s flow through Szot Park is interrupted by two earthen dams, the Upper and Lower Bemis Pond dams and have outlived their intended use and have begun to degrade and impact water quality.
The first phase of this project is currently under construction, which includes the removal of one of the town-owned dams.
Once Phase 2 and Phase 3 are completed, the project will reconnect 1.5 miles of Abbey Brook with the downstream Chicopee River, eliminating the risk to public safety posed by the aging dams, reducing flood risk, improving water quality and enhancing recreational opportunities for the community.
The plan is to add boardwalks, an outdoor classroom, connect the trails and plant approximately 200 trees.Chicopee Planning Department member Michelle Santerre said, “We are addressing the safety and giving the community something they have been telling us they want.”
