Page 59 - Middleborough 2024 Town Report

P A R KMIDDLEBOROUGH
DEPARTMENT
With the New Wood Street Park nearly complete, it was time to
focus on the long neglected West Side Park. The Community
Preservation Commission approved initial funding to rebuild
the Park to make new fields for lacrosse and soccer. Thanks to
this, demolition began in the spring of 2024, with the removal
of all the fencing from the former Little League baseball fields.
With help from the Middleboro/Lakeville Lacrosse volunteers
and the Middleboro DPW, almost all of the fencing has been
removed and disposed of. Little League will be moving their
practices to the Wood Street Park. Only the backstops and
dugouts will remain. And those will be removed as soon as time
allows. This would still need to be shared by the two groups
until Wood St. is completed. With the fencing removed,
lacrosse could begin to utilize the fields in coordination with
Little League scheduling. Hopefully this situation is short lived.
In 2025, we hope to use it mainly for lacrosse before plans are
completed, permits are awarded, and final demolition has
been completed. Maybe in the late summer of 2025 will
construction commence.
The long time traditional canoe race took place with good
news: our highest racer participation turnout. 50 boaters
took to the Mighty Nemasket to their will. The weather and
water level were near perfect. It was high for good speed, but
not so high to scare of amateur entrants. Trophies and
Central Café pizzas were awarded to all top finishers.
Additionally, a high turnout was seen in the annual Duck
Race! The ducks took on the rapids and revealed top 3
finishers once again. I hope for the momentum continues in
this direction for many years!
The previous summer saw rain each week as if we were in
the Amazon. This year we would see very little at all. We
opened with outdoor activities nearly everyday! And there
seemed to be more cloudy days then any summer I can
recall. This made for good Summer Program weather, but
not so much for our pool!
The town pool once did not open on schedule. The new pool
pump had to be installed a second time and much repairs
took longer than expected. When we opened, a new apron
covered around the pool. There would be no reports of cuts
or scratches for the first time in a while. The awful patching
job from the mid 80s caused many reports of cuts and
scratches. The new pool apron is smooth, with a fresh white
paint, and being complimented by black bold numbers. It
was worth the wait! Much piping and valves needed repairs
from years of chlorine exposure. These repairs all added to
the belated opening. All had to be done, and all of what we
do is much more cost efective than surrounding towns.
Brockton pool repairs cost around $3 million and Hingham
costs around. Our repairs were important, but nowhere near
$20,000. In 2025, I must do a better job in helping to fund
one of the largest pools in the state.
Of course, one great addition to the pool wasn’t a repair. The
Peirce Trustees once again added some fun for the kid. Ater
losing our diving board and slide, we needed something
that would be allowed by the Board of Health. Something to
excite the youth. Enter the Wibit Action Tower. This
commercial buildable inlatable made diving and sliding
possible again. Aquatics Director Heather Campeau and Joe
Masi Jr designed a good safe environment for it to be usable.
It debuted in August and was a huge success. We are excited
to see it used for a full summer duration!
55