Worcester Planning Major Overhaul Of Bell Hill Park

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester will soon begin a major overhaul of Bell Hill Park, one of the city's main swimming areas, and a link between two other large east side parks.

Parks Commissioner Robert Antonelli said work on refurbishing the park could begin late this summer, and will be paid for by federal stimulus money sent to Worcester under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Worcester has set aside $10.25 million in ARPA funds to pay for park improvements.

The city this week submitted plans for the park renovation to the Conservation Commission. A centerpiece of the plan will be a replacement of the aging parking lot off of Belmont Street. But plans also call for an enlarged basketball court, new playground equipment and an overhaul of the park's bathroom building.

The Bell Hill Pond beach would receive a new layer of sand, plus accessible paved paths onto the beach, and a new paved plaza.

Bell Hill Park — also called Chandler Hill Park — is one of three sister parks on the east side with Green Hill Park to the north and East Park along Shrewsbury Street to the south.

The park renovation will only touch on the beach and the immediate parking lot area. A shrouded section of the park atop a hill above the pond accessible by a dirt road will not be part of the overhaul; trails linking that section of the park to East Park are also not part of the renovations, Antonelli said.

Bell Hill Pond is the only spring-fed swimming area, and it once served as Worcester's main drinking water reservoir.

Bell Hill isn't the only park getting upgraded with ARPA funds. A completely new park along Tacoma Street is in the works, including a new dog park, sports areas and a splash pad. There's also a proposal for a new park along a sliver of vacant land on Indian Lake near I-190 — but funding for that project has not been outlined.