21-04-2025
Playground, restrooms envisioned at Feeding Hills park
AGAWAM — Warmer weather is bringing more visitors to Still Brook Park in the Feeding Hills section of the city, and before next winter they may have more to do.
The Agawam City Council is poised to vote Tuesday on a $700,000 upgrade to the 292-acre park on Pine Street. Mayor Christopher Johnson is proposing adding a playground, canoe dock and restrooms to the park less than a year after it opened.
Just don't expect anything on the scale of School Street Park, the recreation area on the other side of town that's full of play areas, sports fields, a band shell and a spray park. Jennifer Bonfiglio, the town's chief procurement officer, said officials still envision Still Brook Park as primarily a passive recreation facility for jogging, hiking, rowing and fishing.
'We have to take into consideration the parking,' Bonfiglio said. 'There's not a ton of parking up there.'
The proposed playground will cover 3,700 square feet and include a swing set and a barn-themed climbing structure with three slides attached. Plans call for a pair of restrooms near the playground.
The playground and restroom will be installed in the Central Meadow area of the park, across the road from the existing pavilion. There are 10-15 parking spaces along the road in that area, Bonfiglio said. She said Agawam isn't currently planning on adding more parking.
The project would also add four small metal canopies, each containing one picnic table, to the Central Meadow walking trail. Spread out evenly over the trail, there would also be six fitness stations, such as a balance beam and a sit-up bench, with instructional kiosks. Elsewhere in the park, plans also call for the installation of three pairs of granite targets for the beanbag-tossing game cornhole.
On the pond, where there are also 10-15 parking spaces, Johnson is proposing adding an aluminum dock and wooden boat ramp for canoers and kayakers. Swimming and motorized watercraft are prohibited on the pond. Bonfiglio said Agawam's own public works crews can install and remove the dock each year.
In the middle of the pond, plans call for two solar-powered fountains to be installed, to aerate the water and help control algae. Bonfiglio said the project cost includes a five-year contract for algae and weed control on the pond and maintenance of the fountains. After that, those items would become an annual cost of more than $7,000 per year.
Johnson is asking to use Community Preservation Act money for the new additions to Still Brook Park. CPA funds come from an existing surcharge on local property taxes and matching grants from the state. They can only be used for certain types of capital projects. The town's CPA Committee has agreed to support the proposed project.
If the council approves the project, Bonfiglio said she could put the project out to bid this spring. Based on conversations with vendors, she expects the playground and fitness equipment could arrive within 12 weeks, and the project could be completed by the fall.
Still Brook Park officially opened in October 2024. The town spent about $6 million to repair a failing dam. It also built a road from Pine Street to the pond, resurfaced some walking trails and installed a covered pavilion, benches and picnic tables. Much of the cost was funded with grants and CPA funds. The rest was borrowed, and the town expects to use revenue from a solar array on the north edge of the property to pay off the bonds.
Before it became a park, the land was the second-largest undeveloped parcel in Agawam, largely unused since Tuckahoe Turf Farm closed in the 1990s. The town has owned it since then, using it occasionally as a staging area for public works equipment and debris. During that time, neighbors often hiked informal trails through the property.
Bonfiglio said a future phase of park development may resurface and officially adopt more of those trails.
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