Historic Wahconah Park Grandstand Almost Leveled
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — If you want to catch a last glimpse of the remaining Wahconah Park grandstand, you need to hurry.
The historic grandstand is currently being demolished, with only a couple of the major structures remaining. Pittsfield is also working on what comes next for the park, and how baseball will return next year.
Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath said if people want to see the last of the structure, they should head down by the end of this week because "by Thursday or Friday it probably will entirely be down."
"It's moving quickly now that they're into the active demo phase," he told the Parks Commission on Tuesday.
"…Certainly, I think by the end of September we'll see cleanup and, if you will, the big hole where the stadium sat. That all will be filled to grade."
The more than 75-year-old structure was deemed unsafe in 2022, and planners determined that starting from square one is the best option.
On Sept. 3, the Conservation Commission issued 36 orders of conditions for the reconstruction of the ballpark.
Conservation Agent Shannon Poulin pointed out that the application has gone through many revisions; reconstruction cannot begin until a certificate of compliance for the demolition is issued.
The project crew will have an on-site meeting on Friday morning and consider two avenues of revitalization: The funding, last estimated around $15 million, and a financial strategy coming together through the mayor so that Pittsfield can move into an active build next year, or a longer process where the field is utilized before a new grandstand is built.
"We're thinking about what that looks like and maybe building a backstop, getting bleachers set out behind home plate, making certain the site is ready to accept baseball, whatever that looks like for spring and summer of 2027," McGrath said.
"We're thinking through sort of two avenues here and ready for whatever materializes. But either way, the baseball field is, has been well preserved and protected. The field will be ready to go at whatever point in time that we decide that the field is ready to go."
Pittsfield is looking to secure qualified bidders for the rebuild before it is bid, so that the true cost of construction can be known. This is a slightly different scenario than usual, McGrath explained, as normally, you bid a project when you have money in place.
"We're bidding the project though the money won't be in place; we can put that caveat on the bid. Again, we just want to really understand in the current construction climate what the current plans and specifications would cost us to build for this," he said.
"Because that'll help inform a financial strategy."
Tags: demolition, Wahconah Park,
