Public Works Department Begins Development of Saco City Park

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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	May, 2005	Return to newsletter index

Saco has a beautiful and valuable resource that we are beginning to develop for the benefit and use of all the citizens of the City. That resource is approximately 168 acres of fields, forests, wetlands, streams, and a pond. The property is the former location of the City's landfill site, which has been stabilized, capped, and vegetated. The actual landfill caps, completed many years ago, occupy only a portion of the total site. The property abounds with wildlife and a variety of lush vegetation. It is not unusual to see deer, flocks of turkey, hawks, porcupine, or any of many wildlife species.

The first phase of a long-term multi-phase plan to develop a City Park on the site is soon to be under way. A cooperative effort of the Parks & Recreation Department and the Department of Public Works will soon transform one landfill cap into practice fields. The existing field will be stripped of existing vegetation and topsoil, re-graded, and the topsoil returned and re-seeded. This area is large. When complete later this year, it will be able to accommodate at least three full size practice soccer fields. Public Works forces are scheduled to begin that work late in May. It is anticipated the transformation will take about 1-1/2 months to complete. The project will require moving several thousand cubic yards of topsoil material, leveling and adding to the clay landfill cap, constructing a sand layer of several thousand cubic yards of material for field drainage, and replacing, grading, and seeding the topsoil. Parks & Recreation Department forces will do the fine finish raking, grading, and seeding.

Concurrently on another part of the property, a large area, formerly used for a borrow pit, will be filled and graded. Three permanent softball and hardball diamonds will be constructed in that location adjacent to the pond. The filling operation is currently ongoing. The newly place fill will be allowed to settle a year before the ball fields are constructed.

Long term development of the site includes amenities such as a skating pond, sliding hill, children's play area, miles of hiking trails, picnic area near the pond, parking facilities, a connecting path and road to the Middle School, restrooms, and a modest Parks & Recreation structure for maintenance equipment and recreation activities.

All the development will be designed and undertaken with preservation of the natural resources as a prerequisite. All the valuable wetland areas will be retained. Buffers will be retained along the streams. The only trees that will be cut will be those necessary to be removed to construct the connecting road to the Middle School and possibly some to construct convenient parking areas and the recreation structure.