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Vol. 4, No. 3
Wednesday, April 26, 2002
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Contents | Wellington News | Home
This will be a short issue to bring you up to date on the Path project at the park. There was a presentation last week before the Mayor's Committee on Handicapped Accessibility. A report is on the meeting is given below.
There was also a request by one of our members that we allow folks to express their opinions on the upcoming Tuesday override petition for or against. If you have an opinion on the override, particularly as it affects our park, please email it back as soon as possible for publication in this newsletter on Monday midday. No, it won't be as long as the letters to the Tab but we want to offer the opportunity. All residents are strongly urged to educate themselves on this issue and to cast their ballots in the Tuesday, April 30th, special election.
The flowers have been spectacular this year and surely brought joy to the hearts of many people. The garden was the result of planting over 500 bulbs last year by Jenny Luciano (Princess Road) and the rest of her hardworking Garden Committee crew.
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Please refer to previous issues for the background on the path project. Your editor, Ted Kuklinski, on behalf of Citizens for Wellington Park, went before the Mayor's Committee on Handicapped Accessibility on Wednesday, April 17th at City Hall. The history of Wellington Park and the changes over the past several years were described to the committee. It was explained that the park is now highly used by many groups of people for many different purposes. The main point is that the park is highly used but is not currently handicapped accessible. The chairperson of the committee, Jason Rosenberg, related that he had gone to visit the park recently and indeed found that it was well used.
Copies of the preliminary plan, along with an estimated cost estimate (done by Tim McHale of McHale and Co.), were handed out to the committee members. The plan originally provided by civil engineer Verne Porter was modified and shown along with photos of the proposed work area taken from different angles. The revised plan was posted as a PDF file on our website at "http://www.wellingtonpark.org/welpath.pdf ".
The layout and idea for a handicapped ramp into the play area were discussed. It was thought that perhaps, instead of an actual ramp, the area near the fence could be bermed (possibly with excavation from the rest of the path). Then it would be just a path and not officially a ramp. The play area was designed to have a gate closest to the transfer platform on the play structure.
There was some discussion of the path over to the water fountain even though the fountain is not currently accessible. There may be funds set aside for the purchase of accessible fountains so we would make the path now even if the accessible fountain was not immediate. Mr. Rosenberg related that he had seen somewhere a fountain adaptor that could possible be mounted on our style of bubbler and provide a second lower accessible bubbler. We agreed that we both would look into finding out more about such a bubbler.
Two benches had already been purchased and allocated to the Wellington Park project by the committee. Our plan shows four benches. If there is money left in our budget after path construction, these leftover funds could possibly be used to acquire another pair of benches. On our plan, the suggestion was made to make the bench pads wider at one end. The idea is that a wheelchair could tuck in there off the path. Thus there would be off path seating for both wheelchair and walking users of the path. Such a small extra pad also provides a place for strollers to park off the path and thus not obstruct it. This is also a reason for the small transfer plaza between the path and the court surface. The Parks Department is willing to install the benches.
It was suggested that there should be a handicapped parking space and a curbcut in proximity to the handicapped entrance gate on Kilburn Road. To do this we would have to make up a small plan, gather petition signatures from abutters, and present it before the traffic council. If you live on Kilburn Road, I will come by with the plan and a copy of the petition for you to consider sometime in the near future. The location for the HP spot appears reasonable and is tucked into the curve of Kilburn Road so it should not really pose a traffic obstruction.
Given the money available, asphalt may be the only cost effective way to build the path. It has the advantage that it will be easier to repair if necessary. There is the question of who would do the work. For some path work at Albemarle, the Public Works Division actually did the work. We may consider doing this depending on the availability of their resources. It could potentially cost less than putting it out to bid by an outside contractor.
The estimate was for the path was approximately 16.5K. A budget of $17,000 was voted upon and approved unanimously by the committee. If it goes way over budget or comes out at budget, we may need to do some fundraising to cover the cost of the additional two benches.
From here, we need to get together with Verne Porter to modify the larger survey drawing with the current plan and then take it through the City Hall process (Engineering, Purchasing, etc.). On the docket of the committee, the project was listed as possibly taking place in late 2002 but depending on who does the actual work, it could be later. Await further word.
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Some of you may be receiving the Wellington News for the first time with this issue. The Wellington News email edition is the fastest and easiest way for to keep in touch with you. Others may be reading it on the park entrance clipboards. If you wish to subscribe, just send an email to info@wellingtonpark.org or call (617) 969-6222 and leave a message. Or if you wish to be removed from the list, let us know the same way. Email addresses change often, so, if you used to get this newsletter and now don't (since you may be reading it on a clipboard), send us your new email address. And of course, check out our web site www.wellingtonpark.org. Back issues of Wellington News are available online. Hope to see you at the park soon!
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Contents | Wellington News | Home