New recreation fields will be built in Hampden after timber is cleared from the area around the Lura Hoit Memorial Pool.
The area around the pool building is likely the future site of a new community center, but the timber clearing that will start this winter is for stormwater retention ponds and recreation fields, Economic Development Director Amy Ryder said.
Hampden Town Council unanimously approved opening the bid process to hire a contractor to clear just more than eight acres of timber and vegetation during a meeting Monday night. Additional responsibilities include leveling the ground and erosion control on the town-owned land, per the town council’s agenda. The work is required to be done by March 29.
All softball, baseball and soccer fields will eventually be at the one site, Ryder said. The stormwater retention ponds will fix an ongoing issue with runoff.
Hampden officials started discussing expanding the town’s recreation center in 2012, Ryder said. Currently the Skehan Recreation Center is in the former Hampden Academy, which houses the gym and recreation department offices. The space is rented for $1 a year, with the town maintaining the building.
In 2021 officials started talking about building a new community center. It will likely end up near the pool, with two high school regulation basketball courts with pickleball lines, a walking track, classrooms, a kitchen, banquet area and offices for the recreation department, Ryder said. Those ideas came through multiple surveys and public hearings during the last few years.
A rough draft of the community center plans will be presented to the center’s committee, as well as the recreational department committee in the coming months. Then the plan will go before town council, with public hearings to get more community input, she said.
“We’re trying to get as much community involvement [as possible] throughout the process,” Ryder said. “There’ll be a lot of public hearings and public notices around the finalization of the community center, just to help people get involved and come out and learn about it, and to give their thoughts.”
Money for the center will come from fundraising, not taxpayers, which will start once the final plan is approved by the town council — hopefully this year, Ryder said.
With fundraising and construction, it will likely take five to seven years until completion. It is too early to estimate what the final cost will be, as plans are not finalized and construction prices are fluctuating, she said.
Community members want more places to come together, have events and do activities for all ages, according to feedback the town received while redoing its comprehensive plan, Ryder said.
This will consolidate all of Hampden’s community organizations into one building, including the Kiwanis Club, the garden club, Boy Scouts, pottery classes and more.
“This was a need and a priority for the citizens and it’s continued to be,” she said.
