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Old Saybrook Looks to Put Out Bid for Main Street Connections Park

On July 11, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) was given a presentation on the next phase of the Main Street Connections Park Construction. The town hopes to put the project out to bid in the fall.

During the BOS meeting on July 11, Geoff Jacobson, the town’s consulting engineer, gave the board a presentation on the next construction phase on the Main Street Connection’s Park.

The site of the park is across the street from the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, where the town’s old police station used to be located. First Selectman Carl Fortuna explained that phase one was completed about five years ago.

Fortuna explained that phase two calls for “a sidewalk that connects from Main Street to Lynde Street, two bocce courts, benches, and shade trees.” During the meeting, Fortuna said he had heard from several Lynde Street residents who were excited about the potential connection from their neighborhood to Main Street.

Fortuna noted that the park doesn’t have much parking and is bordered by a residential neighborhood, so the idea was to keep the offerings of the park somewhat low-key.

“A passive park mostly due to the fact that we cannot have an intense use in this space due to lack of parking and also that it borders on a residential neighborhood — Sherwood Terrace. But it should be a great place to bring the dog, play Frisbee,” Fortuna said.

Fortuna and Jacobson said the hope is to put the peat out to bid in the fall and then begin construction sometime after that.

Fortuna said that phase one was completed with a $500,000 STEAP grant and that the town had a $500,000 earmark for phase two, “which should cover most if not all of the proposed work.”

“This will be a continuation of improvements to downtown Old Saybrook and will give people more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors,” Fortuna summed up.