Professional park builders will lead the efforts that began on Friday.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It was almost a year ago exactly when Eddie Taylor went before the Parks Commission and said the renaming of Pitt Park was "reigniting a fuse."
The name change for those in support was not just a name, it was the start of a movement.
"This is bigger than the park name. This is sincerely the beginning of reigniting this fuse," Taylor said at the time.
Now a year later, the energy behind the name change is leading to a community build project in which the neighbors of the Columbus Avenue Park are volunteering their time to replace the playground, just the second of three major capital improvements planned for the park.
"The old playground was a pressure treated playground, it wasn't up to code. It was time to replace it. We've got a lot of volunteers down here today helping to build this playground over the course of today and tomorrow," the city's Parks and Open Space Manager Jim McGrath said. "This is a great effort in a great little park in a great neighborhood."
On Friday, a number of volunteers had begun the project and all day on Saturday dozens more are expected to join in. The volunteers will be working with professional playground buildings from Miracle Recreation and the designers Site Specifics to build the new playground.
"This effort is important because really what we try to do at the end of the day is foster stewardship within our parks and there is no better way to do that in a neighborhood than to get folks who live in the neighborhood and other volunteers who care about their parks to come out and help," McGrath said.
Last year, the city rehabilitated the basketball court. This fall the playground, funded by a $70,000 allocation from the city's federal Community Development Block Grant funds, is being replaced. And next spring, the city is looking to install a new shelter, which Greylock Federal Credit Union has already donated $25,000 toward.
"Durant Park is a well-loved park in this neighborhood and as we begin to think through the improvements at the park we heard from many different neighbors and stakeholders that they wanted to see some real capital improvement in the park," McGrath said
The name change and the neighborhood getting together were the main inspiration for the new capital improvements. Those advocating for the name change were the same who helped craft the master plan for the park.
"There was a lot of energy after the name change and the city is happy to work with the neighbors to seize on that momentum and get some great things done," McGrath said." With a refocused energy on the park, we've been able to identify capital improvements that the neighbors want to see."
About a dozen volunteers on Friday were unwrapping the pieces of the new playground, which is expected to be completely built by Saturday evening.
The momentum behind Durant is one of multiple community efforts to rehab city parks.
The Parks Commission approved the renaming of the field at Clapp Park in honor of the former Pittsfield High School coach Buddy Pellerin and the citizen group behind that is raising some $250,000 for improvements there in conjunction with the master plan for that.
At Springside Park, another group of citizens have crafted master plans and applied and received $50,000 from the state to fix up the Springside House and are raising funds for other improvements there.
"This city loves its parks and it is nice to see so many people advocating for their parks and coming out and helping. It is promising to me, the future of our parks system. We can't do it along. We don't have enough people, we don't have enough funds," McGrath said.
Before heading back to work at Durant Park on Friday, McGrath said a community build such as the one for the playground these two days isn't just a benefit to the Parks Department but one that "benefits everybody." And that's exactly what the Durants would want.
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BRPC Committee Mulls Input on State Housing Plan
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's Regional Issues Committee brainstormed representation for the county in upcoming housing listening sessions.
"The administration is coming up with what they like to tout is their first housing plan that's been done for Massachusetts, and this is one of a number of various initiatives that they've done over the last several months," Executive Director Thomas Matuszko said.
"But it seems like they are intent upon doing something and taking comments from the different regions across the state and then turning that into policy so here is our chance to really speak up on that."
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and members of the Housing Advisory Council will host multiple listening sessions around the Commonwealth to hear input on the Healey-Driscoll administration's five-year strategic statewide housing plan.
One will be held at Berkshire Community College on May 15 at 2 p.m.
One of Matuszko's biggest concerns is the overall age of the housing stock in Berkshire County.
"And that the various rehab programs that are out there are inadequate and they are too cumbersome to manipulate through," he explained.
"And so I think that there needs to be a greater emphasis not on new housing development only but housing retention and how we can do that in a meaningful way. It's going to be pretty important."
Non-commission member Andrew Groff, Williamstown's community developer director, added that the bureaucracies need to coordinate themselves and "stop creating well-intended policies like the new energy code that actually work against all of this other stuff."
Downtown Pittsfield Inc. proposed angled parking on North Street and was pleasantly surprised that the city responded with an in-depth study and new plans — even if they don't include angled parking.
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Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.
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Albert Ingegni III was applauded for four decades of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals during City Council. Mayor Peter Marchetti presented him with a certificate of thanks for his commitment to the community.
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