SOUTHWICK – Whalley Park officially opened this week.
The Certificate of Occupancy was issued last week and the first soccer games were played this week.
The park has been owned by the town for nearly three years and was set to open last year, but the punch list of items necessary to open was not complete until last week.
“The last thing was the ADA compliance,” said Parks and Recreation Commissioner Daniel Call.
The Commission is responsible for the park, which is the only true park owned by the town.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Joseph Deedy said some handicap parking spaces had to be moved in order to be compliant.
“That was taken care of, and it’s open,” he said.
Call said the restrooms are not open due to needed supplies and maintenance not in the budget. He said he hopes they will be open soon and other items, such as additional field lighting, will be done in the future.
The 70-acre park, which includes 35 acres of recreational fields and 30 acres of conservation land, was donated to the town by John and Kathy Whalley.
During a special Town Meeting in fall 2012, voters accepted the park from the Whalleys and approved using $1.2 million in Community Preservation funds to complete remaining items at the park, such as paving and lighting. Also approved were articles to accept a $100,000 gift from the Whalley family for maintenance of the park, and an article to allow the Whalleys to construct a pavilion at the park.
Earlier this month John Whalley, a newly elected member of the Parks and Recretaion Commission, said he wanted to create a list of needed items to present to the Community Preservation Committee for funding.
The park has been unofficially open for more than a month when a gate across the entrance was removed. Call said he was happy the park opened to the public.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “There are a lot of opportunities that will open up with Whalley Park. I think it will be an asset to the town.”
