The money is now in place for the construction of the first bike and skate park in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Springfield City Council voted unanimously to authorize a $1 million bond that will be paired with $1 million the city has received from the National Park Service to construct a bike and skate park, fulfilling a years-long quest of bicycle and youth recreation advocates.
It will be located in Gurdon Bill Park – a city-owned roughly 7-acre patch of green space in the lower Liberty Heights neighborhood.
“It is going to be a very important initiative to build this skate park for the city,” said Pat Sullivan, Springfield’s parks director.
The $2 million project will include a number of enhancements to the space, Sullivan told Councilors before the vote.
“It will also honor the legacy of the Gurdon Bill family who donated this land, which will include an arboretum, garden areas, playground, splash pad,” he said. “It’s going to be a great project.”
Earlier plans to build a bike and skate park on Carew Street on property owned by the Springfield Boys & Girls Club fell through a few years ago.
After a search for a new site, the Lower Liberty Heights Neighborhood Council, project advocates, and the city’s Parks Commission all endorsed building it at Gurdon Bill Park.
The park is located on a PVTA bus line, so it is accessible to people from all over the city.
Yolanda Cancel of the organization WalkBike Springfield has advocated for a bike and skate park for the last five years.
“We want our kids off the (video) games,” Cancel said. “We want them out. We want them healthy. We want them to be able to get out and know each other. This is the best thing.”
Construction of the bike and skate park is expected to start next spring.
The City Council also unanimously approved a $1.6 million bond to finance improvements to the Richard E. Neal Community Park. Located off Page Boulevard, the 18-acre park was donated to the city about a decade ago by the Eastman Chemical Co. with the request that it be named to honor the Congressman and former Springfield mayor.
With a matching federal grant, the $3.1 million project will add playground equipment, a splash pad and more to Neal Park said Mayor Domenic Sarno.
“It is great for the East Springfield and Indian Orchard neighborhoods,” Sarno said.
Since taking office 16 years ago, Sarno said his administration has invested more than $110 million in park improvement projects throughout the city.
“It is important in urban centers that we have green oasis,” Sarno said.
