BRATTLEBORO — Living Memorial Park has been around for nearly 70 years and is a beloved part of the town's life.
In recent years, however, that love hasn't extended to making long-term improvements to facilities at the park.
The result, according to Recreation & Parks Director Carol Lolatte, is that some of its most popular venues - the Nelson Withington Skating Facility, its two softball diamonds, and the Kiwanis Picnic Shelter, among them - need upgrades. And they need them sooner rather than later.
On Nov. 15, Lolatte presented a proposal to the Selectboard for $4.3 million of what she called “generational improvements” at Living Memorial Park.
Her department wants to improve the skating rink with a new $1,975,068 roof and $1,528,642 refrigeration system, replace the park's maintenance building for $724,269, and invest $75,000 in ballfield lighting and $40,000 for more parking.
“I know that big number sounds scary,” Lolatte said in an interview with The Commons. “But the items in this proposal are things that have been in the Capital Planning Budget for years and kept getting pushed out. Pushing out isn't an option anymore.”
Big-ticket item
The bulk of that $4.3 million will go toward upgrades to the Withington rink which first opened in 1975 and is now showing its age.
Topping the list of repairs and upgrades to the rink is a new refrigeration system for the ice surface. Lolatte said the present system uses R-22 refrigerant (chlorodifluoromethane), a highly toxic material that is no longer made. Most ice rinks have already switched to a carbon dioxide–based or ammonia-based system.
“We're still using 1970s technology for operating the rink,” Lolatte said. “The tough thing with a refrigeration upgrade is that you can't see the change. You can only see the difference when there's no ice.”
In 2013, a consulting firm recommended replacing the current system, but the Selectboard voted to continue using the R-22 refrigerant.
In the decade since that decision, the cost of R-22 - which hasn't been made since 2020 but is still available - has greatly increased. It went from $13 per pound in 2018 to $38 per pound in 2021.
Replacing the 80,000-square-foot roof at the rink is another priority item. Lolatte said that when it was first built, it was designed as an outdoor rink with a warming shelter at one end and three walls lined with fabric to block the wind. Over the years, permanent sidewalls were added, along with locker rooms.
The problem, said Lolatte, was the uninsulated roof was never designed to be used for an indoor rink.
A low-emissivity (low-E) fabric ceiling, with a microscopic coating designed to reflect heat, was installed after the building was enclosed, but it has resulted in moisture accumulating inside. On warmer days, that moisture rains upon the walkway to the locker rooms and seating area. This creates icy conditions for skaters and spectators alike.
The good news, according to Lolatte, is the rink is structurally sound after nearly 50 years, but the roofing steel is experiencing what inspectors called “significant rusting.”
Of the three options available regarding roof replacement - replacing the existing uninsulated roof with the same, bringing the roof to the R-20 insulation standard with 5-inch structural insulated panels, or bringing the roof to the R-40 standard with 10-inch insulating panels - Lolatte said she supports the R-20 option.
“The condensation issues in the rink make this important to do,” she said, but added that the R-40 option would not yield a significant enough improvement that justifies the higher cost.
Other proposed upgrades to the rink include a new dehumidifier to replace the current unit that was installed in the mid-1990s, energy-efficient lighting upgrades, and a new condenser.
All are needed for one of the busiest places in Brattleboro in the winter months.
Between November and March, the rink is used from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The Brattleboro Union High School girls' and boys' hockey teams use the rink for practices in the early mornings and games in the evenings. The Brattleboro Hockey Association uses the rink for its programs and for teams of skaters from toddlers to teens. Adult ice hockey programs use the rink in the late evenings.
In addition, the rink hosts the Brattleboro Figure Skating Club, a speed skating program, and 14 hours of public skating each week. All of the Windham Southeast School District schools (except Vernon), plus Hilltop Montessori School and The Putney School, also use the facility.
“It's a valuable community resource for winter recreation,” said Lolatte.
The rink also gets plenty of use when the ice sheet melts away. It serves as an indoor location for the Rec. Dept.'s summer day camp and for indoor street hockey, roller skating, and special events.
Other park improvements
Lolatte said the Rec. Dept. also needs a new maintenance building to replace the two sheds that now sit across from the swimming pool.
One is a wooden shed that is a vestige of the Clark family farm, which sold the property to the town in 1954 to create Living Memorial Park. The other is a cinder block building built in 1972. Together, they provide the only storage space for the park maintenance staff, and Lolatte said both are small given the size requirements of some of the vehicles and equipment.
Lolatte said the two buildings would be replaced by one 3,200-square-foot wooden frame building. It would have three equipment bays but would not be a finished structure right away. She envisions that the staff can do much of the interior work to create needed office space and other amenities.
Upgrading the field lighting on the softball fields, which are in continuous use throughout the spring and summer, and creating additional parking at Kiwanis Picnic Shelter are the remaining parts of the project.
The lights on the upper softball field date back to the 1980s and are so old that Lolatte said it is difficult to find replacements for them. This part of the project will cost about $300,000, although Lolatte anticipates the men's and women's softball leagues helping with a fundraising and grant-seeking effort to cover about $225,000.
How to pay for it?
The Selectboard is in the midst of the budgeting process for fiscal year 2024, and board chair Ian Goodnow said the Recreation Department proposal will be part of that discussion. Representative Town Meeting members may be asked to vote on the proposal as soon as March.
Local leaders are mulling over a 20-year bond that could require nearly $2 million in interest costs over two decades as well as weighing suggestions for fundraising measures that include public and private grants and federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.
The draft town government budget for fiscal 2024 is $21.4 million. It is up 7.1% from the current budget, but it would tap a fund balance and projected hikes in rooms, meals, and sales tax revenue to limit any property tax increase to 3.5%.
It would maintain existing services, but about 60% of the budget would go toward employee salaries and benefits, with the town considering a bump in its annual cost-of-living adjustment from about 2% to 5%.
The payroll cost “represents the single largest driver behind the increase in taxes,” interim Town Manager Patrick Moreland said in a budget statement.
Big-ticket items include $515,000 for a state-required 10% match to replace the Melrose Bridge on Route 9 and $400,000 for roadside repairs after a recent washout on Williams Street.
The budget also calls for creating a $45,536 full-time communications coordinator to maintain a new municipal website planned to debut next summer.
Lolotte said she is seeking every possible funding source to help cover the cost of the park improvements. She thinks ARPA money could pay for a good chunk of it, but grants and donations will be part of the mix, too.
While it won't be like the effort a decade ago that created West River Park on Route 30, which was built without town funding, Lolatte said that her department “has a good reputation for going after money where we can find it.”
She hopes the Selectboard and Representative Town Meeting members will be part of that process. She said she spoke with U.S. Rep. Peter Welch earlier this year about including funding for Living Memorial Park improvements in the 2022 round of congressional earmarks but was ultimately turned down because the town hadn't approved the proposal.
“They generally fund 'shovel ready' projects, but without town approval, we didn't make the list,” Lolatte said.
But, she said, if the project is included in the FY 2024 town budget, “we'll definitely try again next year.”