Pittsfield Park Getting Basketball Court Renovations
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The basketball courts at Dorothy Amos Park will see some renovations for players of all ages who use them.
On Thursday, the Conservation Commission OK'd court paving and repainting on the property at 320 West St. One of the courts will be milled, and all three will be repainted.
The park, which also has a playground and seating areas, is along the West Branch of the Housatonic River, and the work requires ConCom approval. Dorothy Amos Park is a popular recreation spot in the West Side neighborhood, and is home to the Beat the Streets youth summer basketball league.
Conservation Agent Shannon Poulin reported concern about a tree with roots growing through one of the courts, and that the tree will more than likely need to be cut down.
"Other than that, I mean, the courts already exist, and it's just an upgrade," she said.
Commissioner Jonathan Lothrop commented that he has seen roots become a problem long after the tree is removed. As a taxpayer, he would like to see the tree's root system removed to avoid spending more money on it in the future.
Work was approved with two special conditions: all materials are stored outside of the resource areas, and erosion controls are to be placed along the fence line before work begins.
In other news, commissioners issued 20 orders of conditions for the filling of an isolated wetland on property located at 100 Dan Fox Drive, or Bousquet Sport.
The project involves permanently filling and grading approximately 0.9 acres, about 39,250 square feet, of isolated wetland and associated grading, drainage improvements, erosion and sediment controls, and final stabilization.
James Scalise of SK Design explained that this will allow for work on the property with a greater setback from Tamarack Road, "which is really the purpose from the applicant's perspective, is that being able to shift some activity away from Tamarack Road has been a desire of that neighborhood, and so we're trying to be sensitive to that with this application."
Tags: basketball, conservation commission, public parks,
