WESTFIELD – Department of Public Works Director David Billips said the city has hired a contractor and bulldozer to level out the mound of dirt on the Cross Street playground. Billips said people from St. Peter/St. Casimir church, which is adjacent to the Ashley Street site, and some nearby residents were complaining about the condition of the park.
Location on Ashley Street where site cleanup efforts are occurring.
“I have requested the DPW to clean up the playground some by eliminating the large dirt pile and spreading some grass seed to reduce some weed issues. It is time to give the residents and the Church a little break from seeing such an eyesore every day,” said Mayor Brian P. Sullivan.
Location on Ashley Street where site cleanup efforts are occurring.
“I am using budgeted DPW funds and we are using a local on call construction service vendor,” Sullivan added.
Billips said the DPW hired a contractor because they don’t have a bulldozer, but they will probably send a DPW crew to work there as well. “Whatever we have to do to turn it into a park for now. We’ll probably do the whole area,” Billips added.
The Cross Street playground was at the center of a recent Supreme Judicial Court decision, which ruled that the park is Article 97 protected under the law. The city had sought to use 1.37 acres of the park for a new Ashley St. Elementary School building project. The city currently owns the land at the site of the former Ashley Street School, where they have said they still are looking to build a smaller elementary school building, for 400 students as opposed to 600.
