Officials on Thursday unveiled plans for an approximately $7 million project to build a new recreation area along Robinson Road and an outdoor learning campus for the Edgartown School.
Project designs showed many features, such as playgrounds, an office building with public bathrooms, multi-use fields and courts for pickleball, tennis, basketball and shuffleboard.
“A lot of thought, a lot of planning and a lot of revenue from our property taxes have gone into this project,” said Edgartown School principal John Stevens. “We’re here to present to you what we think is a really forward plan to create a super campus here in Edgartown.”
Andrew Kelly, a parks commission member, presented a timeline of the project and renderings of the campus alongside David Warner of Warner Larson Landscape Architects, who was contracted for the project in December. They hope to break ground at the end of August, starting with the playgrounds, and wrap-up all construction by December 2026.
The project started back in 2019 when the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club first approached the town about purchasing land for a new facility.
The town approved the club’s request to build an access road to the new club, which has already been built although it still needs to be paved. Barbara-jean Chauvin, the club’s executive director, said plans for the new facility are finalized and funding is almost all there.
In negotiations, the club gave the town two acres for the Robinson Road park and the town purchased 4.7 acres to expand the cemetery behind the recreational area.
The town already has $2.1 million set aside for the project. The Edgartown School obtained an additional $1.4 million which was approved at the 2022 and 2023 annual town meetings.
The department will ask voters to allocate $4 million in free cash and an additional $500,000 from community preservation open space/recreation funds at the annual town meeting on April 8.
“The students deserve it, the citizens deserve it, overall Edgartown deserves it and so I encourage everyone to make a positive vote,” said town administrator James Hagerty.
Renderings for the project show two new playgrounds along the school’s parking lot, one for kindergarten and first grade, and another for grades 5 through 12, beside an open lawn and multi-sport court for basketball, deck hockey and soccer. A learning center is nearby with seating for teachers to host classes outside when the weather is nice.
The parks department sent a survey in 2019 to ask parents what their kids want for their new campus. The highest demand was for more options at the older kids’ play area. Designs for the grades 5 through 12 playground feature a 13-foot slide, spinners, climbers and a gaga pit.
Each of the school’s play areas will be closed to the public during school hours. The team said much of the playground equipment is wheelchair accessible.
The park then expands to have a soccer field that’s surrounded by a mile-long trail that connects the whole campus. Three outdoor fitness stations dot the trail, with equipment such as spin bikes, rowers and pull-up bars.
The playground currently at the school.
— Ray Ewing
Adjacent to the cemetery would be two tennis courts and eight pickleball courts. Mr. Warner said the tennis courts will have walls on the back for lacrosse practice. Adjacent is a pre-K play center and splash pad. Large sails act as a canopy for the play center, providing additional shade.
A park shelter building rests in the middle of the campus, with a parking lot behind it. The building, designed by Tappé Architects, will have bathrooms, an office space for the parks administration and a slanted roof intended to support solar energy panels, Mr. Warner said.
The building opens-up to a shaded outdoor resting area with picnic tables. Beside it are two croquet courts and a putting green.
While the drawings may look over-the-top, Mr. Warner said, the team has the community’s needs at the forefront of their minds.
“I’d like to emphasize that we’re looking for really inspiring but cost-effective solutions, and even though the images may have looked flashy, we’re going to be designing things that we believe are really appropriate for your community,” Mr. Warner said.
The furthest point of the park are the two acres given to the town by the Boys & Girls Club, where there would be a multi-use field and a space for little league baseball. Mr. Kelly said the parks department hopes to have an online reservation system for the park’s fields.
At the end of the meeting members of the public asked questions and offered suggestions.
Julia Livingston, chair of the town’s climate committee, asked for native plants, a pollinator garden, permeable surfaces and suggested adding electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lots.
Others suggested trimming the amount of pickleball courts to allow more space for basketball, which they said is needed on-Island.
Mr. Kelly said he anticipates some elements of the recreational area will need to be scaled back, and sighted the splash pad and putting green as examples.
The aging tennis courts would be replaced.
— Ray Ewing
“We’re creating a puzzle here, trying to fit all the pieces in there [while] staying within a certain budget,” he said.
Mr. Kelly emphasized that the parks department wants to hear feedback from the community as their team finalizes its plans.
There are three articles on the annual town meeting warrant asking residents to approve funds for the project. The town meeting will be on April 8.
