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10/17/2024 02:08 PMESSEX
Essex Town Hall has announced that work is underway for improvements at Hubbard Park, beginning the second half of the Civic Campus Enhancement Project which started with improvements at Town Campus and now continues at Hubbard.
First Selectman Norm Needleman said that after “a lot of discussion about this project publicly, we think we found compromises that everybody can live with and be happy with.”
In regard to the project, Needleman told the Valley Courier that there was a strong focus on the “interest of the kids that use the park, their families, as well as the interest of the people in the neighborhood.”
The project is being funded by a $500,000 grant from the Small Town Economic Assistance Program, along with $130,000 supplied by the town, making the total cost $630,000.
Late October will see remaining site-work preparations before an increase in construction activity begins, according to Public Works Director Ryan Welch. The construction will involve major improvements in infrastructure, as well as inclusive accessibility for pedestrians.
Welch told the Valley Courier that once larger equipment for construction is brought to the park, the excavation at the site will take place “for the foundation of the new building, which is 24-by-36 [feet],” and will be a post-and-beam-style multi-use building for storing equipment used by the Parks and Recreation Department and Little League baseball. It will also contain two ADA-compliant bathrooms and a concession stand area, all of which will be accessible by new sidewalks stretching from the parking area to North Main Street.
“The objective is to create accessibility from the street to the parking lot and into the park, to the building, to the bathrooms,” said Welch. “If somebody is there with a wheelchair, they'll be able to use the whole park.”
Welch added that the post-and-beam-style building was designed with consideration which appears “cohesive” with surrounding area and neighborhood.
The existing parking area will be removed to create more greenspace, making for “a more formal area with some wood-beam railings on each side, so people know where to park,” Welch said.
Welch went on to explain that having more greenspace will allow for better drainage control and result in less reflected heat, contrasted with a paved surface.
The parking area will be temporary and have a widened entrance, both of which will be meant to make entering and exiting the lot less “hazardous,” said Welch, especially during Little League season.
The volleyball court near the parking area will be relocated, as will the batting cages, to the southeast corner of the park in order to create space for a multi-use field.
New fencing will be phased into the project and installed around the basketball court, the baseball field, and the north side of the park’s perimeters, said Welch. Additional irrigation work will take form, as well.
Welch said that considering how the baseball field “is in fairly good condition,” there are no plans for improvements to it, nor are there any plans to replace its long-standing dugouts which have been at the field since it was the site of the former high school in Essex.
The town is aiming for most of the work to be completed throughout the late fall and winter and before the first week of April, when Little League baseball practice starts up. Welch said he expects no traffic interference as a result of the construction, saying “we’ll basically have the whole site to ourselves.”
Outside of visible improvements, Welch said that upgrades in the mechanical and utilities aspects of the project are necessary, especially for the new building.
“We'll be running a new water service to the building, new electric service to the building. Most of the work is focused on the building,” he said.
With the incoming improvements, Welch said that, overall, the town wanted Hubbard Park to look less “industrial or commercial” and have more of a park look with the added greenspace and no gravel areas.
“I think it's going to be a really nice, upgraded facility and an asset to the town for a long time,” he said.
Updates on the project’s progress will be posted on the town’s website for the duration of construction.