Town Buckles Down to Improve Griffin Park Fields

Recreation Committee chairman Dennis Senibaldi is pleased with the progress being made to improve the fields in the back of Griffin Park.

According to Senibaldi, the town executed a $7,500 project last week to lay pipe surrounded by gravel on a 400-foot length of swale extending from the concession stand to the back of the main soccer fields. Each section of pipe put down is 20 feet.

The goal of the work is to get rid of standing water that currently creates a breeding ground for mud and mosquitoes.

"(The work) should make for a nice addition to the park," said Senibaldi.

He explained that the hope is to fill the swale up to the height of the field, with closed drainage the whole length.

"We'd actually have at least 40 or 50 feet more in width for the field, so you can shift the fields around more conveniently."

He explained that the goal for years has been to get field work done. During the last budget season, Senibaldi and Highway Agent Jack McCartney went to the Board of Selectmen requesting the $7,500 be added to the Recreation Department column for the first project.

The soccer fields will be closed until late July or early August.

In the interim, kids have been competing on the state-owned parcel of land on Range Road, which previously housed Applewood Golf Links.

Field space also remains a major point of concern for the town's Recreation Committee. Senibaldi said that in a recent meeting, the committee voted to again present a proposal to the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) Committee for a field at Spruce Pond.

, which failed on that year's ballot.

He said that the proposal will probably be the committee's only CIP presentation this year, and he is hoping to get unanimous support between the CIP committee and Selectmen.