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Residents could weigh in on a new direction for Reynolds Field after the Recreation and Parks Commission began reconsidering a refrigerated hockey rink that it advanced in April.
Commissioner Shelly Bedrossian confirmed in a Friday email that the commission is moving away from that proposal following the announcement of a planned indoor rink at the Lynch/van Otterloo YMCA. She said the commission wants to hear how residents think the town should use Reynolds Field and the money left for recreation improvements by Larz Anderson.
Possible public input sessions have been discussed for Oct. 6 and 7, but Bedrossian’s response did not confirm the dates, times or locations. She said the sessions would be for listening rather than presenting a design.
“We are not presenting, we are listening to how the community thinks about the pivot and what ideas they have,” Bedrossian wrote.
At a commission meeting Tuesday, members discussed keeping a street hockey rink on the existing footprint and adding a canopy, parking improvements and turf for the softball and soccer fields, Bedrossian said. CHA Consulting has suggested an engineered concrete surface instead of asphalt because it would be easier to use for rollerblading, she said. The proposed concrete carries a 20-year warranty and is intended to withstand the frost heaves that have damaged the current surface.
Drainage and parking problems at the Green Street complex would be addressed, according to Bedrossian. No replacement plan has been adopted.
The shift comes less than six months after the commission voted 4-1 to advance planning for a refrigerated rink and field improvements. That proposal called for a 170-by-70-foot sports deck beneath a pavilion-style roof, with removable turf for soccer and lacrosse when ice was not in place. The first phase was estimated at $3.6 million, while funding for the field work remained unresolved.
Supporters at an April public meeting said local ice time would spare youth hockey families early-morning and late-night trips to rinks in other communities. Soccer and lacrosse leaders also backed a covered practice space. Representatives of the men’s softball league raised concerns that a proposed parking layout could cut into right field.
Earlier designs drew questions from neighbors about noise, traffic and the rink’s proximity to homes. Engineers were examining drainage, groundwater and other site conditions.
The Anderson bequest, reported in April to be worth about $3.3 million, has been central to plans for Reynolds. Bedrossian said community input should guide how it is spent. She did not specify whether the new concept would use all of the bequest or give a revised cost estimate.
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