Date: Fri 05-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Amaral-Property-Park-Rec

Full Text:

Amaral Property Transferred To Park & Rec

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to officially turn over the

former Amaral property on Elm Drive to the Parks & Recreation Commission.

The 13-acre parcel, purchased by the town last year, is expected to be used

for both ballfields and passive recreation.

A year ago this week, the Legislative Council voted in favor of purchasing the

$400,000 property with the remaining Iroquois Land Preservation and

Enhancement (LPEP) money.

The Parks & Recreation Commission plans to hire a landscape architect to

determine the best use of the land, according to chairman Larry Haskel. The

likely use will be a multi-purpose baseball/softball field and/or a special

soccer/lacrosse field.

"We won't build any fields this year, but we need to start planning," Parks &

Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian told the selectmen.

It costs about $100,000 to build a ballfield, according to Mr Haskel.

The P&R Commission also plans to create hiking trails on the remaining open

space. Officials from the Iroquois Gas Transmission System funded the purchase

only on the condition that half the land be used for passive recreation.

The former Amaral property extends in a triangular shape in a northerly

direction from Dickinson Park to the point where Elm Drive and Deep Brook Road

intersect at the Village Cemetery. The lot lies just north of the Dickinson

Park tennis courts.

The property links the open spaces of the park and The Ram Pasture, owned by

the Village Cemetery Association, giving Newtown a band of parkland in the

center of town, extending from Brushy Hill and Point O' Rocks roads to the

foot of Main Street and its intersection with Route 302.

The Parks & Recreation Department recently took down several trees that had

once served as a natural buffer between the former Amaral property and the

Dickinson Park tennis courts. Several of the trees had fallen during storms

and the department felt those still remaining might cause a safety hazard. New

trees and shrubs are expected to be planted to fill in the empty spots.

There are about 25 ball fields in Newtown that are available for town use,

according to Mrs Kasbarian. However, most of the fields are on school

property, often causing scheduling problems.