Pool bathhouse, cemetery farmhouse lead requests for $2.28M in Amherst CPA funding
Published: 10-30-2024 12:04 PM |
AMHERST — Exterior renovations to Wildwood Cemetery’s Dickinson Farmhouse, historic restoration of stained glass windows at the Jewish Community of Amherst, and construction of a new bathhouse for War Memorial Pool are among projects that will be vying for Community Preservation Act money.
The 11 proposals, totaling $2.28 million, will soon be reviewed by the CPA Committee, including a $500,000 request from the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust that could help fund affordable housing developments, such as supporting housing at the former VFW site at 457 Main St.
The biggest request is $850,000 for rebuilding War Memorial’s 1950s-era bathhouse, a proposal from Assistant Department of Public Works Director Amy Rusiecki. Already, $750,000 from CPA funds is funding preliminary design, but with a $4 million estimated cost, more money is needed to support the town’s Athletic Facilities Strategic Plan, completed in 2019. The next phase is to complete design and get bid documents ready for the building, as well as the nearby basketball court, playground and walkways.
“It is expected that the project area will be redesigned as a community attraction that will serve residents and visitors for another 75 years,” Rusiecki wrote.
Housing Coordinator Greg Richane is asking for $500,000 that would go to the housing trust. It could be used for supportive housing and a permanent site for the Craig’s Place shelter at the former VFW location, or other projects.
“Other town-owned sites that could be considered for affordable housing uses include the former South Amherst School at 1001 South East St., parcels owned off Strong Street, and parts of the former Hickory Ridge Golf Club,” Richane wrote. “Were any of these to be used for housing, the trust would expect to be a key player in that process.”
The Jewish Community of Amherst, which bought the Second Congregational Church building at 742 Main St. in 1976, is asking for $210,000 for the project to repair the 1890s-era stained glass windows. “Previous repairs included the addition of vertical support bars presumably to help support sagging panels,” JCA board president Keren Rhodes wrote in the application. “The windows, however, are clearly in need of conservation and restoration.”
The $102,500 for exterior preservation of Dickinson Farmhouse, built around 1790, comes from Rebecca Fricke, the cemetery’s general manager. The farmhouse was deeded to the Cemetery Association by Fidelia Dickinson in 1897 and is used as an office and meeting space, with some public events. It has a one-bedroom apartment on the upper floor and a basement for equipment storage and workshop for those who take care of the cemetery grounds.
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The work will include repointing the brick exterior walls, rebuilding of chimneys and restoring windows and shutters. “Successful repairs will ensure preservation of the structural integrity of the Dickinson Farmhouse and reduce the energy costs for the apartment and the cemetery office,” Fricke wrote.
The Amherst Historical Commission is asking for $15,000 for a modern architecture survey. In the application, member Madeleine Helmer writes that the project will document 20th-century buildings and sites not previously recorded.
“The most recent substantial inventory of historic buildings in Amherst was conducted in 1988; at that time, the survey only considered buildings that were constructed prior to 1938,” Helmer writes. “Therefore, Amherst’s historic building fabric dated between 1935 and 1975 is not well documented and not well understood.”
Several of the other project proposals were initiated by town employees.
Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek is seeking $150,000 to fix up and install trails and footbridges in places including the former Hickory Ridge Golf Course, the Robert Frost Trail reroute between Atkins Flats and Station Road, and the Podick Conservation Area stream crossing at Route 116 and Sunderland Road
Another proposal from Ziomek is to target $120,000 for completing improvements to the baseball fields at Mill River Recreation Area that began five years ago. Working with Amherst Baseball Inc., the town would install two dugouts at one of the fields and electrical service at both fields, meaning a public address system and places to plug in pitching machines and other portable equipment.
Ziomek also put in an application for $100,000 for improved signs at town recreation and conservation sites, properties that have old or crumbling signs and kiosks.
“The lack of signage creates confusion for users and visitors when they try to find these areas and does not present a solid outward facing image for the town,” Ziomek wrote.
Two other DPW projects proposed by Rusiecki are $100,000 to improve accessibility at Groff Park, meaning better access to the lower pavilion area, and $90,000 for improving public spaces around tothe Amherst Dog Park.
Tree Warden Alan Snow put in a request for $40,000 to replace 415 feet of white picket fence at the North Cemetery on East Pleasant Street. The fence, attached to granite posts, was installed about 20 years ago, and would be replaced by a vinyl fence of similar appearance.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.