Third Splash Pad Proposed for PittsfieldBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:15PM / Sunday, August 11, 2024 | |
 The splash pad at Clapp Park. There is also a splash pad at the Common and a third is being proposed for Durant Park. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is poised to have three splash pads.
Before the Conservation Commission is a notice of intent application from the city for a 700-square-foot, circular concrete splash pad at Durant Park. At the applicant's request, it was continued last week.
Full cost estimates have not been completed but based on recent repairs made to the Clapp Park splash pad, it is estimated to cost between $350,000 and $450,000.
Park, Open Space, and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath reported that once local wetland permitting is completed, design work and detailed cost estimates will be finalized and the city will begin to identify appropriate funding sources.
He hopes to have it under construction within a year.
The parcel is bordered by the West Branch of the Housatonic River Reservoir and contains a riverfront area and land subject to flooding. This requires an OK from the Conservation Commission.
The 2.1-acre park at 30 John Street currently hosts a 4,750-square-foot playground, basketball court, softball field, picnic area, and sitting areas. Visitors would be able to cool off on the splash pad located between existing playground structures with asphalt sidewalks connecting them.
The splash pad would connect to existing municipal water with service connections in the rear of the existing maintenance building. Two drain inlets would direct water into an existing manhole and no additional lighting is proposed.
Located in the heart of the West Side neighborhood, it will provide relief from the summer heat within walking distance of many households.
It has been a tumultuous year for splash pads in the city. Splash pads at The Common and Clapp Park were operational just in time for the summer heat wave in June after significant repairs.
Over the winter, vandals stripped "major components" needed to operate the facilities. Copper was taken from control rooms at the Common, Clapp Park, Durant Park, and some of the Little League fields.
The metal is commonly stolen and sold for profit.
The damage was said to be "extensive" and the payout for the person who stole the components was far less than the cost of the repairs so it is "really disproportionate and unfortunate and sad and all of those things."
The building maintenance department does not want to see this happen again and is advancing new ideas for protecting the buildings it oversees in the parks.
"Both parks are vital resources to our community. We are devastated that this activity has taken place and are going to try our best to have things repaired in time for spring," the city wrote on Facebook in February.
"However, we have a lot of work ahead to have bathroom facilities and splash pads available in these two locations."
The city had to obtain replacement parts and pipes to properly operate the bathrooms and splash pads. It also had to purchase, repair, and install new doors, locks, toilets, sinks, dispensers, and mirrors in the buildings.
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