Sandwich Preservation Committee Approves Combined Skate and Recreational Park

SANDWICH – The Sandwich Community Preservation Committee recently approved plans for a multi-generational recreational park.

Original plans for a new skate park with walking trails at the new public safety campus at Quaker Meetinghouse and Cotuit Roads has been expanded to include several pickleball and tennis courts.

The Recreation Department originally sought $1.5 million for the skate park and trails, which would have replaced the Kenneth Benjamin Fleet Skate Park behind Stop & Shop. The park was demolished in 2016 due to safety concerns and vandalism.

A separate request for about $350,000 was made to the Community Preservation Committee to renovate unused courts at Sandwich Hollows Golf Club into new pickleball and tennis courts.

The Committee asked Recreation Director Guy Boucher to create a plan which would merge the two proposals.

“We took the last couple of months and went back to the drawing board and combined both projects at the Oak Crest Cove site here on Quaker Meetinghouse Road and came up with one large multi-generational, multi-purpose park option,” Boucher said.

Boucher said Sandwich has a lot of great conservation areas, hiking trails, and school playgrounds but it did not have a park.

“We don’t have a space for everyone and anyone to go to either enjoy a grassy area or a sport, or walk, or connect to a conservation area,” he said. “And this project really does that.”

The $2 million proposal would need to be approved by a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting in May.

The project would be funded with a bond that would be paid off over a decade through the Community Preservation Act account. Residents and businesses would not see an increase in taxes if the project is approved.

Boucher said the new park would also connect to 85 acre Oak Crest Cove property, which is where the recreation office is already located.

“We already are utilizing Peter’s Pond for swimming lessons and kayaking, and we have tennis and basketball here as well and summer camps and all different activities on this property,” he said. “And this kind of adds to it and brings more recreation to all ages and everyone.”

Boucher said his department will now work to get the word out and gain support for the project and show the community that the park would be an asset for the town to have.

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