Park plan could accommodate field use, pond, dogs
The Enterprise — Michael Koff
A flag proudly flies over the Feura Bush Town Park, which is in good condition but underutilized, according to New Scotland Town Board member and engineer William C. Hennessy Jr.
The Enterprise — Michael Koff
Plans afoot: This maintenance building at the front of the Stephen P. Wallace Park on Swift Road could be replaced with a pavilion, according to a master park plan discussed by the New Scotland Town Board last week. A new maintenance building with restroom facilities could be placed at the rear of the park, according to the plan, if funding sources are found.
NEW SCOTLAND — Mulling town-wide park improvements, the town board last week heard a master-plan presentation for the Swift Road and the Feura Bush parks, which would include a natural swimming pond, a dog park, and possible access to the Albany County Rail Trail.
“We’re looking into the potential improvement of them,” board member William C. Hennessy Jr. told The Enterprise this week. “We have been pleased with the increased use of the parks by local residents in the past three years.”
He also said grants would be needed if improvements, totaling more than a million dollars, were to be undertaken.
The town reformatted baseball and softball field rentals at the town parks three years ago “to bring in more local baseball-team use,” Hennessy said. Since then, the Clayton A. Bouton High School varsity and junior varsity baseball teams have played regular games at the Stephen P. Wallace Town Park on Swift Road for two years, he said.
At the beginning of the year, he said, the town board decided to look at park improvements. Last summer, Hennessy, Supervisor Thomas Dolin, and Highway Superintendent Kenneth Guyer walked through both town parks, and decided that it would be “appropriate to have a professional review,” Hennessy said.
Barton & Loguidice landscape architect Thaddeus Kolankowski presented an overarching 10- to 20-year plan, available on the town website at townofnewscotland.com. Suggested park improvements include drainage systems, restroom facilities, and parking areas, as well as the relocation of a Swift Road park maintenance building from the front of the park to the back and the placement of a pavilion near the front of the park.
Improvement costs range from an estimated $175,000 for just construction costs at Feura Bush to $825,000 at Swift Road, town Clerk Diane Deschenes said.
The town board is not committing to any part of the plan now, Hennessy said. One estimate for moving and replacing the Swift Road building was $30,000.
“That was just an estimate for that, if we want to. We’re still considering that proposal to relocate that facility,” Hennessy said of Barton & Loguidice’s proposal.
Hennessy, a private consulting engineer in Slingerlands, said, “Clearly, we can’t do most of those right now without significant grants. The sum total was close to a million in one of the parks. They’re just the options.”
About the Feura Bush park, Hennessy said, “It’s in fine condition, but it’s underutilized. We would like to improve that and convert one of the fields to a multi-purpose field.”
The New Scotland and Voorheesville baseball club has increased its membership over the last three years, and can now field a team, he said. “That would fit very well at Feura Bush or even at Swift Road,” he said.
The board hopes to renovate the ice-skating area at the Swift Road park. The rink currently uses a liner that needs to be replaced every four years, Hennessy said. Town workers could grade and shape a drainage area for a seasonal pond to be filled and frozen during the winter, and used as a drainage ditch during the summer with no standing water, he said.
“There is some park budget in place, and some possible grants,” Hennessy said. “Some of this can be done with town personnel, some with public and private agreements, and volunteer work. Some of these clubs may volunteer to assist with any of these renovations.”
