Parks and rec projects are on tap
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Major developments are on the way for the town’s parks. And the little things, too, will make all the difference. 
Parks and Recreation Director James Callaghan said, “My philosophy is “it’s the little things that eventually add up. It’s just right. It’s beneficial to the residents. It’s beneficial to the visitors. It’s good for everybody.” Those little things translate to residents and visitors as ‘I can’t tell you why but I feel real comfortable here’.”
The first major renovation is the town’s tennis court and skate park on Church Street. 
Plans call for four pickleball courts and one tennis court. That area will be completely redone including the fencing. What’s important in the project is the temperature for the curing of the new surface. He said the basketball court and the skate park will remain untouched. The rough estimate for that project is a little over $300,000 in local funding. He hopes that the work will begin around mid-August and he’s confident that will be done before mid-December. 
Over at the St. Marie Greenhalgh sports complex, replacement of the track is the top job. This project costs about $1.6 million and it’s covered by a grant. The track surface is “might be 20 years old,” he said and it will be replaced, not resurfaced.
In addition some reorganization will be done in the “D-zone.” The building where track equipment is held is near the bleachers and currently track and field equipment must be dragged across the track to, for example, the high jump area. That’s wear and tear on the high jump mats and the track. So the high jump, etc. stations will be moved closer to the storage building. There are already new scoreboards at the St. Marie Greenhalgh complex and the Owen Tarr complex behind it. The Putnam Little League was working this year on raising funds to replace the softball field scoreboard.
The Sabin Street project, currently in the excavation stage, will be passive recreation.
The department/town is busy in other parks in town. He said the painting of the bandstand is just finished and a couple pieces of decking must be replaced. He added they are looking into some new banners to go along the River Trail/Rotary Park lampposts. They will promote some of the “regular” events in Putnam — “famous” events like the Main Street Car Cruise, River Fire and more. 
To help events like the Zombie Fashion Show and concerts and performances, the town will be installing Wi-Fi in the bandstand for the performers and performances. “It’d be great if they could just connect to Wi-Fi instead of bringing 10 different hot spots for everything.” 
He also plans on using the back of the kiosk signs in various places along Kennedy Drive to advertise events, etc. Right now they are just empty. He also is working on adding wayfinding in a couple spots. They’d hold “you are here” type maps so visitors can get to all the events easily. There are two of these “table top” signs, one at Kennedy Drive and Bridge Street and the other at Kennedy Drive and Rt. 44.  The department has also replaced some of the wooden picnic tables in the town’s parks with metal tables. And the picnic table at Simonzi Park is ADA accessible — “It extends out so you can just roll up to it.”

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Rescue Coming
The track at the St. Marie Greenhalgh Sports Complex will be replaced soon. Linda Lemmon file photo.