The Belmont Recreation Department has submitted applications for more than $1 million in Community Preservation Act funds to upgrade the Chenery Park complex.
Town Meeting will hear a presentation and vote on this and other applications in the spring.
According to Recreation Director Brandon Fitts, the playground, fields, and tennis courts at the complex are worn out and need to be replaced. The total project is expected to cost around $3 million. Two funding applications have been filed: $300,000 for design and engineering costs, and $1 million for construction.
Community Preservation Act funds are available through a state law that allows communities to add a surcharge on property taxes, which, when combined with matching state funds, can be used to fund parks, playgrounds, recreation fields, open space, affordable housing and historic buildings.
New Park Is Part of School Reconfiguration
Fitts said the project became necessary after grade reconfigurations moved students from the middle school to the combined middle and high school, and Chenery Middle School became Chenery Upper Elementary School (or the CUE) serving grades 4 to 6.
“People said we need to revamp this and make it better for the grades coming in,” Fitts said. “It’s served the community well for a long time, but with a change of usage, it is time for an update.”
The complex currently has two softball fields, grass fields, a paved area with basketball hoops, a playground with swings and basic structures, open space and two tennis courts. The public and students use the complex, and it is managed through a hybrid arrangement between the Recreation Commission, the School Committee, and the Select Board, Fitts said.
“We work well with the schools and have a great working relationship with them,” he said. “This project will be very collaborative.”
The Chenery was built in 1997. While he’s not sure how old the recreation facilities are, Fitts said the playground equipment, in particular, is dated, and inappropriate for the new age groups at the school. The softball fields are well used, but drainage is an issue and needs to be addressed. The tennis courts are in surprisingly good condition, he said, but need to be redone, mainly because they were used to house modular classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project is in its earliest phase, Fitts said, and community discussions will be held after Town Meeting. Decisions will need to be made about how the complex should be used in the future, he said, and he expects the community will weigh in on the size of the playground and softball field, whether basketball hoops should remain or be replaced, and how many tennis courts belong in the space.
“Those are questions we’re going to be asking once we sign on with a landscape architect,” he said.
While $3 million is the preliminary working number, Fitts said a full estimate will not be available until a contractor is brought in and the true nature of the work is determined.
“This is going to be a really big project, with tennis courts, playground equipment, asphalt, fields, draining, fencing, and it will all have to happen while school is in session. We can’t shut off recess for an entire year. Those are the things that will factor into the cost,” Fitts said.
Fundraising through school PTOs and a newly established Friends of Chenery Park will also be considered to support the project as needed, he said.
Other CPA applications
