AMHERST — Even as $1.5 million in Community Preservation Act money will support a new bathhouse at War Memorial Pool and another $1 million will go toward restoring the slate roof at Town Hall, efforts to build a public outdoor pickleball court are being put on hold.
The CPA Committee on Feb. 5 approved a series of recommendations, totaling $3.6 million, that will go to the Town Council. The spending plan was created from $6.6 million in proposals submitted by town officials and community groups.
The largest amount, at $1.5 million, will supplement $1.25 million in previous allocations to pay for the pool building that will include bathrooms, showers and changing rooms, replacing a 1950s-era cement block building that has been in disrepair at the downtown site. This money will be borrowed and paid back over a period of 10 or more years.
Another $1 million will fix the slate roof of Town Hall, an 1893 building, and $477,000 will pay for enhancements of the 1928 sections of the Jones Library, though that is far short of the $1.25 million request. That money will help offset some of the costs of the $46.1 million library and expansion project to be finished sometime in 2027, with steel framing for the new addition recently rising at the 43 Amity St. site.
The committee’s longest discussion centered on the $650,000 for the pickleball courts proposed for Groff Park and the apparent lack of support for their construction.
Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek informed the committee that a lot of time has been spent over the past three to five years on pickleball courts, but there has been what he called “project fatigue” when the original plan to build at Kiwanis Field off Stanley Street fell through due to neighborhood opposition. Since then, the town has relined tennis courts at Mill River Recreation Area for pickleball use, and done a sound study on Mill Lane to address concerns for those who live near Groff Park.
“I can’t honestly say whether we’d bring this back next year,” Ziomek said. “I think there’s a significant amount of staff fatigue on this project, we’ve invested a lot of staff time in looking at sites, and Groff Park is honestly not a sure thing.”
Committee members were concerned with rejecting the project outright.
“It does seem like a lot of time and money has been spent on pickleball, and I’d be concerned that we’d put a kibosh on the project altogether,” said Ellen Keiter.
Committee member Angus McLeod said there are too many other pressing needs than pickleball, suggesting the plans come back with more public support.
Jonas Cox, a member of the Recreation Commission, though, was concerned about the project’s removal from funding reflecting on the interest in the community that has existed.
Also not getting any CPA money is Goodwin Church, which sought $48,000 for chimney and foundation repairs. Committee members were concerned about setting aside money for an incomplete application. The Historical Commission may work with the congregation to secure emergency funds
For affordable housing, $450,000 will go toward development of 174 Amity St. by the Amherst Community Land Trust, and $325,000 will be provided to the Affordable Housing Trust, though that is less than the $575,000 it sought.
The committee did recommend $20,000 so the All-Wheels Amherst Group can begin a process for designing an all-wheels skatepark next to Community Field.
There will be $75,000 for a study and survey of the industrial history along the Mill River in North Amherst and $50,000 to repair gravestones at the North and South cemeteries.
Another $90,000 will maintain a part-time planner and housing coordinator in the Planning Department for three years.
Historic preservation would also come in the form of $275,148 to stabilize and preserve the Simeon Strong House, the Amherst Historical Society’s home located next to the Jones Library
Finally, $100,000 would go to improve trails, bridges and boardwalks at several town-owned sites, including Larch Hill, Wentworth Farm, Mill River, Amethyst Brook, Puffers Pond, Hickory Ridge and Fort River Farm Conservation Area, and another $100,000 would go to install new signs in town recreation and conservation areas.