Upgrades To Page Park Is In The Works

By Brian M. Johnson, The Bristol Press

February 1, 2022

The city’s Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services Department is planning to upgrade Page Park and is coming up with a design which will lead to increased security, access and amenities.

Josh Medeiros, superintendent of the Parks, Recreation Youth and Community Services Department, said the city is in the preliminary design process for the Page Park Revitalization project, which will ultimately be a four-year, phased project for the city.

The project was defined during our 2020 Master Plan process, with community feedback via public forums, a statistically valid survey, an online survey, site analysis and stakeholder interviews,” said Medeiros.

Medeiros added that, in 2007, the city upgraded its other parks including major renovations at Rockwell Park, Stocks Playground and Bracket Park. Page Park was the only park left out due to funding running out.

“Our Parks Board is really excited to see this project move forward,” said Medeiros.

Medeiros said that the proposed renovations include expanding parking opportunities throughout the park, creating a new, multi-purpose turf field and creating a pickle ball court. Pickle ball is a modified version of tennis which requires less movement around the court. In the past several years, it has become a popular alternative for seniors.

“Pickle ball came up in both our community survey and stakeholder interviews as something the community wanted to have at Page Park,” said Medeiros.

The developer for the Page Park Revitalization Project is Watson and Sampson. They are working with city staff to take the master plan recommendations and develop preliminary design documents. These, Medeiros said, will eventually become construction documents.

“We will use these documents when we go out to bid for the project,” said Medeiros. “We should have the preliminary design completed at the end of February and we expect to be going out to bid by April 2023.”

Medeiros said that the city has currently funded $2 million for Phase 1 of the project and plans to include a request for Phase 2 in this year’s budget.

Brian M. Johnson can be reached at 860-973-1806 or bjohnson@bristolpress.com.