CHESTERFIELD — It has been four years since the idea for a memorial park began to take shape and now, after a lot of planning and volunteer hours, the Veterans Memorial Park in the center of town is very close to completion.
“The actual construction work began at the beginning of May of this year,” Dee Cinner of the Chesterfield Veterans’ Park Committee said. “We still have some more perennials to put in, two more lilacs and some cleanup to do, but it is about 98 percent completed.”
The park is next to the Town Hall, where space had to be cleared and the remnants of an old cement foundation had to be removed.
Now, partially ringed by low Goshen stone walls, an oval shaped green is separated from garden beds by a Goshen stone walkway that surrounds the green. Boulders in the mulched beds sport plaques with the names of service members who gave their lives in the country’s various wars, and a single white marker honors Chesterfield’s Medal of Honor recipient, Samuel E. Eddy (1822-1909).
Cinner said that funding for the park came from the town, grants and donations.
“The town approved $34,430 for the park, we received a grant from the state Historical Record Advisory Board for $10,000, and between fundraising and donations we got $5,340,” Cinner said.
Landscape architect Nick Dines of Williamsburg donated his time to design the park and the Goshen Stone Co. in Goshen, George Judd’s Original Goshen Stone in Goshen, and the Sugarledge Stone Quarry in Cummington, donated all of the stone.
Jamyang Jamyang of East Tibetan Stone Work in Greenfield did all of the stonework.
“It’s just beautiful,” Town Administrator Sue Labrie said. “His work is amazing and all done by hand. He is a real artist.”
Cinner said many volunteers assisted with the project and fundraising was also productive.
“It was just astounding to me that from individuals to business, nobody that I asked for donations told me no,” she said.
While it is first and foremost a park to honor Chesterfield’s veterans, Cinner said she hopes it will become a community park where people will stop by to chat and relax or use the space for community events.
“We are still looking for volunteers on a long-term basis to do light gardening,” Cinner said. “That is how Williamsburg takes care of their gardens and I think that gives people a feeling of ownership.”
A date for the official opening of the park will be announced soon.
“I really give credit to the committee for the hard work they put into it under the leadership of Dee Cinner,” Select Board member Robert Recos said. “It is just great the way everybody pitched in and it all came together really nicely.”
Ideas for this column on life in the hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at Fryan.gazette@gmail.com