22-acre park proposed in New Hartford; land would cost $250,000

By BRYON ACKERMAN

Observer-Dispatch

Posted Aug 23, 2008 @ 11:49 PM

NEW HARTFORD —

A 22-acre park proposed near Ralph Perry Junior High School eventually could include additional sports fields, tennis courts, walking trails, a playground, parking spaces and an extension of Weston Road.

School teams and town baseball and soccer leagues have created a demand for more fields, outgoing school district Superintendent Daniel Gilligan said.

The project would help with a goal of creating a system of parks spread throughout the town, Gilligan said.

“It’s all about one thing: It’s about funding more playing-field space for kids,” he said.
Officials are hoping to raise $250,000 to purchase the property and at least $50,000 for initial site work, Gilligan said. He hopes the site work could be complete
by June 2009.

Gilligan said he couldn’t estimate how long it would be until the project’s completion. It likely will take place in phases and could take several years, he said. He also could not estimate the total cost of the project.

Town studies in recent years have pointed to concern about protecting open and green spaces, and Gilligan said he thinks using the location for fields instead of some other type of project fits in with that idea.

Some town residents who live on Chapman Road near the proposed location are worried about how the plan could impact their lives — especially the number of cars traveling by their homes.

Dolores Del Medico has lived on Chapman Road for 47 years and said the road already is busier with speeding cars than she would like.

“Definitely, the traffic is the main concern,” she said. “Plus, I feel we do have a town park already, and I certainly don’t need my taxes to go up for a park I won’t use.”

Chapman Road resident Jean Cobb agreed.

“We don’t need any more traffic on this road,” Cobb said.

Evelyn Aiello, who lives on the corner of Chapman and Weston roads, said she thinks school officials would be better off focusing on improving the school buildings, but she isn’t too worried about the traffic impact.

“There’s a lot of fields back there now, so it really won’t phase me,” she said. “As long as my taxes don’t go up.”

Gilligan said he understands the traffic concerns, and it’s hard to predict what the impact would be. He said he thinks there only would be increased traffic during games and events because at other times, many people would walk to the park.

Funding the project
The idea for the park, dubbed Higby Park until a permanent name is determined, came about when commercial realtor Dominic Pavia contacted Gilligan about the property to tell him the owner would sell it for $250,000, Gilligan said.

Pavia said he would waive his commission fee, and he donated $5,000 toward working out an option on the property, Gilligan said.

The property is owned by O.W. Hubbell & Sons Galvanizing, which is owned by Daniel Hubbell, Pavia said. The original price of the land was $325,000, he said, but it was discounted for this project.

“I think it’s a great idea for the community,” Pavia said.

The New Hartford Central School Foundation has been targeted as the group that likely would lead fundraising efforts, Gilligan said.

After initial funds are accumulated, officials hope to avoid an impact on tax rates by trying other options:

* Looking for donors and field sponsors.

* Applying for joint grants with the town and sports leagues.

* Accessing incidental aid that could come along with other school capital projects.

* Making use of money already in the school’s and town’s recreational budgets.

The property eventually would be given as a gift to the school district, Gilligan said.

School and town officials said it hasn’t been determined which entity would be responsible for maintenance of the area, but they said it likely would be a joint effort.

New Hartford town Supervisor Earle Reed said the project could have a positive impact on the tax base in the long run by adding to the appeal of New Hartford’s school district and recreational opportunities.

“This is very exciting,” Reed said. “It’s only in its very early stages, but I think the potential is great.”

Fields of dreams
In June, officials in the town discussed building a ballfield on a previously landlocked parcel of land in New York Mills at a cost of about $1 million.

Gilligan said the Higby Park project could work in coordination with that plan and other existing parks to make fields available across the town.

Doug Owen, New Hartford Little League president and member of the project’s planning board, said there are more than 400 children in just the town Little League. The project could help meet the need for field space, he said.

“The kids would have much better facilities to play on in one location,” Owen said.
Gilligan stressed that plans are just preliminary and that the ideas for the park are just what some officials imagined as the ideal options.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, he said.

“You know, I guess that’s what dreams are made of,” he said.

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