The improvements at Camp Wilder Park follow the 2011 tornado and include state and federal grants and private funds.
SPRINGFIELD – City officials and residents of Sixteen Acres gathered Tuesday at Camp Wilder to praise the start of a nearly $1 million improvement project that follows serious tornado damage more than two years ago.
The project will be funded through a mix of state and federal grants and private funds totaling $983,000, officials said.
The tornado on June 1, 2011, “really ripped this place to shreds,” Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said regarding the camp and park area off Parker Street, during Tuesday’s project groundbreaking ceremony.
“It really is an urban oasis,” Sarno said. “It’s important in urban America that we need to protect our green space. This is just a wonderful camp.”
The park renovations will include a new open field area, playground, parking, pavilion, landscape enhancements and improved trails/walkways, officials said.
The city received a $353,000 state grant under the Parkland Acquisition and Renovation for Communities program and $250,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds, $180,000 from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, and $200,000 in private donations from the Society of Everett Barney.
Yvonne Barnett, of Sixteen Acres, said she thinks the project is “wonderful.”
“I have a teenage granddaughter who plays soccer so I am really looking forward to this being put together and seeing her and her friends out here on the field,” Barnett said. “It’s nice to see the area is coming back together in a neighborhood we can always be proud of again.”
Park Commission Chairman Brian Santaniello said the improvements to site, known as Camp Wilder Park is the latest in a series of park improvements that serve as an investment in the future of the city.
Patrick Sullivan, the city’s director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management, said the camp has been an “outdoor retreat” for many over the years. The improvements help create a “positive open space experience” for future generations, he said.
Others attending the ceremony included Ward 5 City Councilor Clodovaldo Concepcion, At-Large Councilor Kateri B. Walsh and Park Commission member Jay Griffin.
“I am proud and happy that this is going to happen,” Concepcion said. “This is long overdue.”
The decisions regarding improvements to Camp Wilder Park are part of the overall plan to rebuild Springfield in the aftermath of the tornado on June 1, 2011. The city conducted community meetings in various neighborhoods including Sixteen Acres, to help create a master plan for citywide improvements, officials said.