Reduced Scope For Eldredge Park Work Considered

ORLEANS – In an effort to deliver the first phase of the Eldredge Park redesign at a lower cost, the select board is exploring options for reducing the initial scope of work.

 The board on April 1 was presented with six options for curbing the proposed work to bring the cost in at $3.6 million, down from the $5.4 million budget originally conceptualized.

 Initial plans for the first phase of work called for a new 35-by-50-foot half-basketball court with tiered bleacher seating at the far end of the field near the Eldredge Park baseball diamond, six new pickleball courts and a new playground with a track for children’s bicycles. At the opposite end of the park fronting Eldredge Park Way, two new tennis courts were proposed along with a small handball court and a full 50-by-80-foot basketball court. Plans also included four accessible parking spaces, an accessible trail system connecting the park components, water bottle stations and areas for three shaded structures. 

 The board had sought $5 million in Community Preservation Act funding for the first phase of the long-discussed park redesign, while an additional $850,000 in free cash was approved for the project at the October 2024 special town meeting. But the community preservation committee had reservations with funding the full amount, agreeing instead to recommend funding the work at $3 million. Voters authorized the funding at that amount in November.

 With the lower budget, certain elements of the park project initially planned for phase 1 will need to be cut out of the plan or delayed. Those include removing all of the work north of the existing bandshell ($583,200), including walkways, the half court, seating north of the bandshell and walkways to the bandshell’s south.

 “It’s really kind of an easy dividing point between the north side and the south side,” Regan Andreola, senior project manager for project engineer Weston and Sampson, told the select board. “And by removing that piece, it doesn’t preclude us from coming back and doing that after, and it doesn’t impact the rest of the design.”

Other options include reducing the number of shaded structures for the property to one in the area of the proposed playground ($426,000), reducing the amount of poured-in-place rubber surfacing for the park ($214,000), removing or phasing out the proposed handball court ($55,800), reducing the amount of new trees in the park by 30 percent ($26,000) and phasing out light poles and fixtures ($640,000). Those changes would collectively bring the total cost of the phase 1 work down to $3,536,000.

 Phasing out the lighting would amount to the most significant savings, with the bulk of that cost, $485,000, attributed to lighting for the park’s various courts, Andreola said. She said that work could be done in the first phase to install conduits to allow the installation of poles and other infrastructure in later phases.

 “It’s a scary number, but that is what it takes today to do electrical work,”
 Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan said.

 Mefford Runyon of the select board asked how many trees would need to be pulled out of the plan to meet that 30 percent reduction target. While she didn’t have a number, Andreola said that the goal would ultimately be to deliver a “net positive” number of trees in the final design.

 “Again, this is just for a cost saving in this initial phase, but you’d always have the opportunity to add trees back in,” she said.

 Discussion was also given to ways of generating additional revenue to offset the proposed cuts to the phase one work. Andreola said there are opportunities for grants through the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the state’s PARC program.

 “We’re looking forward to continuing to work on the process to try and apply for grant funding to see what we can do,” said Jamie Balliett, who chairs the town’s recreation advisory committee. 

Elsewhere, Andreola said, the stormwater estimates for the project have come in at approximately $200,000, less than the originally estimated $380,000. Michael Herman of the select board also said that unused money set aside as contingency funding could be used to help lessen the cuts. Herman also said the town shouldn’t rule out fundraising for the project, pointing to the success that organizers behind the recently completed Veterans Memorial Park renovation had in raising money for that effort.

“I think there are people out there who might want to contribute to this project if they have the opportunity to,” he said.

A timetable for phase 1 work calls for the project to go out to bid for a contractor in June or July in hopes of starting construction in September. A public forum on the first phase of work will be hosted by the recreation advisory committee April 16 at 5 p.m. in the Nauset Room of town hall.