Knox town park slated for new kitchen, bathroom

Enterprise file photo — Michael Koff

Materials lay about the Knox playground in 2018, just before new equipment was installed. Three years later, the town park is still receiving upgrades.

KNOX — The Knox Town Park will soon have a kitchen and bathroom accessible to people with handicaps. Construction of the facilities is set to begin once the town receives engineering plans, Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis told The Enterprise this week. 

The upgrades are part of a multi-year park improvement project that took off in 2017 when the town received a $125,000 grant for new equipment. 

“Residents ... use [the park] now more than ever for sporting events, birthdays, graduations, etc,” Lefkaditis told The Enterprise. “The next leg of the park plan is to remove the existing concession stand and replace it with a functioning kitchen and a handicap-accessible bathroom for all to use.

“Our approvals are in place, the monies have been appropriately budgeted, and we are awaiting the completion of the engineered drawings. Once the drawings are received the improvement will begin.”

Lefkaditis did not provide a cost for the new construction when asked, but the town’s 2021 budget holds $50,000 in the playgrounds and recreation centers’ lines, up from $20,000 in 2020.

The sprawling town park is located in the Knox hamlet, behind the firehouse and town hall off of the Berne-Altamont Road.

Other recent improvements include a new ball field, outdoor light-emitting diode lighting, and a paved walking path, Lefkaditis said. 

The LED lights were installed last year using funds from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and cost just under $9,000 for 12 lights. 

Lefkaditis was boastful this week, saying that, with the improvements, “It can be argued that the town of Knox has one of the nicest parks, if not the nicest, in the Capital Region.”

More Hilltowns News

  • Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow told The Enterprise that the town will pay $200,000 to Albany County for its emergency medical service, using a roughly-$320,000 revenue check he says will come in January. 

  • The $830,000 entrusted to the town of Rensselaerville two years ago has been tied up in red tape ever since, but an attorney for the town recently announced that the town has been granted a cy prés to move the funds to another trustee, which he said was the “major hurdle” in the ordeal.  

  • First responders arrived at 1545 Thompsons Lake Road in Knox early Tuesday morning to find the home there completely engulfed in flames. Two bodies were recovered. 

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