Overview:
A community planning meeting will be held at the Athol Public Library on October 29 to discuss potential improvements to Fish Park. The proposed improvements include ADA-compliant pathways, play areas for children of all abilities, green infrastructure, an amphitheater, and native plantings to support biodiversity. The plan also includes reading and relaxation zones with shade, seating, and visual connectivity to nature. The park is bordered by four streets and currently has a 106-year-old bandstand and rarely-used tennis courts. The cost of the design will likely be borne by the town, and it may be possible to acquire grants to pay for the physical improvements.
ATHOL – A community planning meeting is scheduled for Oct. 29 at Athol Public Library to discuss potential improvements to Fish Park.
The meeting will be led by the Planning Department and Open Space and Recreation Commission and will take place at 6 p.m. in the library’s Program Room.
Back in April, UMass grad student Sneha Shinde presented the commission with a series of proposed improvements to the five-acre park.
Shinde, who interned in the Athol Planning Department while working on her masters in landscape architecture, offered a number of ideas, including Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pathways, play areas for children of all abilities, green infrastructure, and an amphitheater for concerts and other live performances.
In addition, her plan would “support biodiversity through native plantings and landscape strategies; provide reading and relaxation zones with shade, seating and visual connectivity to nature.” This would include planting trees of varying species around nearly the entire perimeter of the park.
The park is bordered by Walnut, Maple, Union and Newton streets and is the site of community gatherings and events. However, its only amenities include a 106-year-old bandstand – no longer usable because of the dilapidated staircase – and rarely-used tennis courts.
Planning and Development Director Eric Smith said, “What we’ll do [at the meeting] is give an overview of some of the ideas Sneha presented and other thoughts – the committee members have some ideas of their own. We certainly would like to hear from neighbors of the park in addition to those people who may use the park on a fairly regular basis, or would like to if it had more to offer.”
Once public input has been gathered, said Smith, “We’ll need to investigate it at a more professional level with a landscape architect. They would then prepare a final set of design plans with cost estimates for the improvements people would like to see implemented.”
Smith said the cost of any design would likely be borne by the town.
“Most of the time for a design of any improvements, you would need the town to chip in on that cost,” he explained. “What we would do, basically, is get a quote from a vendor or a number of vendors and see what it would cost to do that work. We could then try to put it through the capital budget process, through the Town Meeting in June of next year.”
Smith said it would be possible to acquire grants to pay for the physical improvements.
“There’s what’s called a PARC [Parkland Acquisition and Renovations for Communities] grant. I think that funds around a good 66%, with the town having to match it,” he said. “The match can be in-kind versus cash, and we could also use donations, too.”
The park is named for Sally Fish, “a wealthy descendant of the town’s pioneer Fish family,” according to the town website. Fish “lived in a house located behind the Pequoig Hotel in an area named for her – Sally Fish Circle. In 1857, she donated five acres of land, which had formerly been part of her cow pasture, and which became a playground for the neighborhood children through her generosity. The Athol school district took over this piece of land and gave it to the town’s Parks Department in 1920 when the name was then changed from Lower Common to Fish Park.”
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.