Another pocket park will soon be gracing Niskayuna on Stanford Avenue. The Town of Niskayuna passed a resolution at the Tuesday, Aug. 25, meeting to accept the 20 acres of land from Schenectady County.
We’re very excited. This gives Niskayuna an opportunity to add another 20 acres onto its parkland, said Niskayuna Town Supervisor Joe Landry.
Schenectady County owned the 20 acres and, according to Landry, they didn’t have any plans for the property. Landry said the town approached the county about acquiring parkland about five months ago.
Town officials plan to use the space as a `pocket park,` which will include a jungle gym and a park bench for parents to watch their children. The rest of the acreage will be left wild.
According to Councilwoman Liz Orzel-Kasper, who has helped arrange and design all of the parks in the town, it will be similar to Blatnick Park, which is small, close to a road and features lots of play equipment, including swings and things for children to climb on. Kasper said the equipment will be in primary colors.
`Right now, this is what we’re going to do and see how it works out,` said Kasper.
There is another lot behind the one that is currently being developed into a pocket park that is 140-by 160-feet.
`It’s perfect for doing something else but not now,` said Kasper.
She said that the town will probably do something with it in the future, but for now they are going to see how their current plans work out and how the initial pocket park is accepted in the neighborhood.
`We now have the land, which has been a long time coming,` said Kasper. `It was a little bit shaky because I knew that some of the board members wanted it [the land] to stay in the county.`
According to Landry, the newly acquired land expands the Schenectady County Woodlawn Preserve. Besides the benefits of expanding the preserve, Niskayuna residents will now be able to enter the preserve from Niskayuna.
Besides the new playground equipment, the town is also going to try to get grant funding to put new trails in.
`The county has a lot of property that sits there. [When] you turn it over to the town, they have a much more vested interest so we’re going to spend $20,000 to $30,000 to build a neighborhood park,` said Landry.
The money will come from the Parkland Fund, which is funded by a fee builders must pay when they build or extend subdivisions in the Town of Niskayuna.
`It just opens up a lot of opportunity for the town, and you’re creating open space and parkland that will never be lost. It’s forever parkland preserve,` said Landry.
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