Westport park to receive upgrades
WESTPORT — Rain gardens, pollinator pathways and new benches are part of a planned Riverside Avenue Park improvement project.
The selectwomen awarded the $362,500 contract last week to Priority Landscaping out of Brookfield, which will do the bulk of the work.
“I think it will bring more people to Riverside Park,” said Jennifer Fava, director of Parks and Recreation, adding the amount falls within the appropriation previously awarded for the work.
Plans for the park also include adding handicap accessible walkways, which will be the next phase, and redoing the parking lot and sidewalks. The reed grasses that grow there have already been removed so that the course of the pathways can be planned out, according to comments at the Board of Selectwomen meeting.
The paving will be handled separately by the Department of Public Works.
Fava said not many people know about the beautiful park and making it more accessible will help increase visitation.
The project has been in the works for at least a year. It got initial approvals last summer. The town then completed the construction documents and went out to bid for the work, selecting Priority Landscaping from the four bids that came back.
Westport officials said they have not worked with the firm directly but heard favorable things from other municipalities that have.
Fava said she hopes to have work start as soon as possible, adding there could be some delays in items arriving, such as the benches, due to supply chain issues.
The project is expected
to take 60 days, though some of the plantings might happen in the fall after that window.
“We’re excited to get this going,” she said.