Springfield announces $2.8 million to add pickleball, crosswalk beacons and more

SPRINGFIELD – City officials plan to spend $2.8 million on a wide-ranging list of improvements, such as adding pickleball courts, flashing crosswalk signs and park upgrades, all instigated by neighborhood council requests.

Projects include the creation of a pocket park with a veterans memorial in Hungry Hill, a housing feasibility study for Memorial Square, new safety crossings on Bay Street and new holiday lighting on Stearns Square and on Main Street from South End to North End. .

City officials made the announcement Tuesday at Greenleaf Park off Parker Street, where the city’s first pickleball courts will be installed at a cost of $450,000. They were accompanied by members of various neighborhood councils.

“This is the first in the city and it’s going to be a … thank you for not forgetting us in our region,” said City Council Member Lavar Click-Bruce, who represents the Sixteen Acres neighborhood where the courts will be built.

The plan is to revitalize the existing tennis courts, leaving one standing and redesigning the two others to create four pickleball courts. They should be ready for next summer, said Thomas Ashe, director of parks, buildings and recreation management.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. When the city approached the Sixteen Acres Civic Association with the plan, it received a unanimous vote from the roughly 100 people who attended the meeting, he said.

The money, which will fund a total of 25 projects, comes from a Neighborhood Enhancement Fund that was established last year with a transfer of free money, said Tina Quagliato Sullivan, director of disaster recovery for the city.

During this year, city officials met with residents to figure out how to best use the money and were inundated with recommendations ranging from traffic safety improvements and park improvements to tree pruning and sidewalk upgrades.

One of the advantages of this money is that it can be used anywhere in the city. During the pandemic, the city distributed $13.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to various neighborhood councils and also has federal Community Development Block Grants, but both pots of money can only be used in neighborhoods that meet certain income guidelines, said Sullivan.

That’s why some projects focused on areas like Metro Center, Outer Belt and East Springfield, but also funded projects in poorer neighborhoods.

For example, the city has allocated $50,000 for a feasibility study to decide how to reuse the land where the now-demolished Massachusetts Career Development Institute stood at 140 Wilbraham Road in the Old Hill and Upper Hill neighborhood.

The other projects are:

• Pedestrian safety upgrades, including flashing crosswalk beacons, will be installed at Bay and Aster Streets for $80,000.
• A new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, lighting and security improvements will be installed at the Kenefick Park Field House in the Brightwood neighborhood at a cost of $250,000.
• A $72,450 grant will help complete the East Springfield Neighborhood Investment Plan.
• Broken and repaired sidewalks will be replaced or repaired in the Forest Park neighborhood at a cost of $218,016.
• Marshall Roy and Angelina Park in East Springfield will see $100,000 in improvements such as new picnic tables, bike racks and trash bins.
• The Hungry Hill Senior Center will receive $75,000 in upgraded exterior lighting.
• A pocket park and a veterans memorial will be created at a cost of $255,000 in a small triangle of vacant land at Carew and Penacook streets in Hungry Hill.
• Electronic speedboards will be installed in Indian Orchard for $32,000, Sixteen Acres for $40,700 and in the McKnight neighborhood for $24,000.
• A total of $40,000 will be spent on a plan to redesign the intersection of Thompson Street and St. James Avenue.
• A housing feasibility study will be created for the Memorial Square neighborhood at a cost of $50,000.
• Court Square Park will see $150,000 in lighting improvements.
• In the Metro Center neighborhood, $120,000 will be spent pruning trees in the downtown area.
• Brick sidewalks will be repaired on Mattoon Street at a cost of $120,000.
• Improved lighting and holiday lighting will be added at Stearns Square for $37,484.
• Christmas lights and American flags will be installed along Main Street at a cost of $467,800.
• A $40,000 design plan will be created to address pedestrian safety at Allen Street and Talmadge Drive.
• A total of $150,000 will fund a design and master plan and improvements for the Six Corners Roundabout and Gerrish Park.
• Plantings and lighting will be installed at the Sixteen Acres neighborhood sign for $8,000.
• South End’s Angie Florian Park will invest $30,000 in an expansion, improvements and a design plan.