State Nearing Finish of Neighborhood Park Cleanup
By Justin Nobre
Even though Rochford Field and Mill Rock Park are currently filled with mountains of dirt, fenced in with dump trucks, cranes and bulldozers working vigorously, the property will soon be a state-of-the-art park for the residents of the Newhall Street neighborhood and the rest of Hamden. The park, which sits across from the abandoned Hamden Middle School, has been under remediation since fall 2014 and the town aims for it to be usable by spring of 2016.
Rochford Field will have two baseball fields along with a walking path around it. Millrock Park will have two basketball courts, two tennis courts and two parking lots.
Two 180-degree photos of the construction site from April.
Even though Rochford Field and Mill Rock Park are currently filled with mountains of dirt, fenced in with dump trucks, cranes and bulldozers working vigorously, the property will soon be a state-of-the-art park for the residents of the Newhall Street neighborhood and the rest of Hamden. The park, which sits across from the abandoned Hamden Middle School, has been under remediation since fall 2014 and the town aims for it to be usable by spring of 2016.
Rochford Field will have two baseball fields along with a walking path around it. Millrock Park will have two basketball courts, two tennis courts and two parking lots.
Two 180-degree photos of the construction site from April.
The contamination that fills the fields included batteries, ash and coal waste which contained lead, arsenic and semi-volatile organic compounds, which can all be dangerous to humans. The DEEP piled on two feet of clean soil to act as a barrier to the contaminated soil including regular fill, top-soil and grass.
The town of Hamden was appointed the responsibility of remediating the parks by the administrative order from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. While the actual renovations of the parks have only been underway since the fall, this has been a 15-year project. They just started actual work on residential properties in 2010.
“This is all part of a cleanup, these parks were built on a landfill from 1896-1940’s, and part of this order was to clean up the contamination and cap it and then put in the new fields. So we’re completely rebuilding these fields. The project costs about $12 million between the new parks,” explained Dale Kroop, the director of Hamden's Department of Economic and Community Development.
The new parks will also feature a brand new storm drainage system to help prevent flooding in the neighborhood.
The town expects the parks to bring opportunities to the neighborhood, such as a practice location for school baseball teams and music venues for local bands.
The town of Hamden was appointed the responsibility of remediating the parks by the administrative order from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. While the actual renovations of the parks have only been underway since the fall, this has been a 15-year project. They just started actual work on residential properties in 2010.
“This is all part of a cleanup, these parks were built on a landfill from 1896-1940’s, and part of this order was to clean up the contamination and cap it and then put in the new fields. So we’re completely rebuilding these fields. The project costs about $12 million between the new parks,” explained Dale Kroop, the director of Hamden's Department of Economic and Community Development.
The new parks will also feature a brand new storm drainage system to help prevent flooding in the neighborhood.
The town expects the parks to bring opportunities to the neighborhood, such as a practice location for school baseball teams and music venues for local bands.
Despite this, many residents have been frustrated with the construction.
Margaret Lyons, a Morse Street resident, is concerned that the work has been harmful to the neighborhood.
“I do strongly feel that the unfinished work to the empty lots, the park, the community center, and the middle school has brought the value of my property down,” she explained in a letter.
She also said there have been instances where people dump their trash all over the area, making it an even bigger “eyesore.”
The plan is for the parks to be fully built for spring 2016, but Kroop said “there’s an outside chance” that the basketball courts and tennis courts will be available in the fall of 2015. So far, he said, despite the brutally cold and snowy winter season, everything has gone according to plan.
Kroop concedes there is still a risk that the project could be set back for an additional year. “One of the critical things that we have to watch is making sure they get the grass seed, they are going to power seed this whole field in the month of April and May, and if it doesn’t go in then we are delayed for a whole year because the grass has to grow for a whole year,” he said.
Seeding began in the middle of April and only time will tell when the parks will be complete.
Video and 360 images by Justin Nobre. Lead photograph by Sarah Harris.
Margaret Lyons, a Morse Street resident, is concerned that the work has been harmful to the neighborhood.
“I do strongly feel that the unfinished work to the empty lots, the park, the community center, and the middle school has brought the value of my property down,” she explained in a letter.
She also said there have been instances where people dump their trash all over the area, making it an even bigger “eyesore.”
The plan is for the parks to be fully built for spring 2016, but Kroop said “there’s an outside chance” that the basketball courts and tennis courts will be available in the fall of 2015. So far, he said, despite the brutally cold and snowy winter season, everything has gone according to plan.
Kroop concedes there is still a risk that the project could be set back for an additional year. “One of the critical things that we have to watch is making sure they get the grass seed, they are going to power seed this whole field in the month of April and May, and if it doesn’t go in then we are delayed for a whole year because the grass has to grow for a whole year,” he said.
Seeding began in the middle of April and only time will tell when the parks will be complete.
Video and 360 images by Justin Nobre. Lead photograph by Sarah Harris.