etterBmanchester

SCHOOL PRIDEpage 4

THE FUTURE OF CENTER SPRINGS PARKpage 9

RECREATION PROGRAM & EVENT GUIDEpage 14

etterBmanchester

Volume 8 Edition 2 Fall 2018

Better Manchester Magazine is an official publication of the Manchester Public Schools & the Town of Man-chester Department of Leisure, Family and Recreation dedicated to bridging communication among Manches-ter policy makers, service providers, and the public.

SUBSCRIPTIONMailed to all Town of Manchester residents and available at townofmanchester.org and mpspride.org

PUBLISHED BY:Town of Manchester Department of Leisure, Family and Rec-reation & Manchester Public Schools

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFChristopher J. Silver

EDITORIALRosaleen TorreyJim FarrellJames CostaSamantha Bell

COPY EDITJames Costa

ILLUSTRATIONSMeghan WilliamsJared Abraham

ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHYPaul Ofria

CONTENT DESIGN & LAYOUTNicolas S. Arias

CONTACT INFORMATIONTown Hall Customer Service 41 Center StreetManchester, CT 06045(860) 647-5235

ADVERTISE IN THIS PUBLICATIONJournal Inquirer, AdvertisingRoseAnn Read, Account Executive(860) 646-0500 Ext. 260rread@journalinquirer.com

Manchester is my home. It’s where I grew up and its where I choose to stay. I know that Manchester is a great community, one that is forward thinking,

self-reflective and always committed to improving itself.

But there have been dark days.

The infamous Manchester High School brawl (see “Rejuvenated MHS Continues to Rebuild Its Reputation,” page 4) is one of them. The latent period at Center Springs Park is another—when lack of funding, under usage, and a thick tree cover—made the park feel dark and dangerous. It felt—and sometimes it even was—unsafe.

These things happened and they have left their mark. Even now, there are still concerns about the safety of our schools and our parks.

This issue of Better Manchester Magazine is about moving forward. “Rejuve-nated MHS” shares and celebrates the high school’s climbing graduation rates, improved NEASC evaluation and its commitment to excellence and achievement. In “The Future of Center Springs Park” (see page 9), we share how much the park has improved and what our hopes are for the future.

The best way to move forward is to be transparent about the past, while being hopeful and enthusiastic about what the future holds. Manchester is a great place to live, to attend school, to start a business, and to grow a family.

Nothing—not even the past—can hold us back.

Christopher J. SilverEditor-In-Chief, Better Manchester MagazineDirector, Department of Leisure, Family & RecreationTown of Manchester

Editor’s Message: REDEEMING THE PAST

Winner of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities

Municipal Excellence Award

PROGRAM REGISTRATION

Begins September 5th

Recreation Program & Event Catalog

PeaceLove Creative WorkShopParticipants explore the creative process through challenges such as painting on someone else’s canvas, recreating images & using paint brushes in unexpected ways.

page 23

OurParks Gear & Bike ShopDon't end the summer without stopping down

at the OurParks Gear & Bike Shop located in Charter Oak Park to pick out your Manchester

Sweatshirts, Hats and Bags!

page 26

Youth and Adult Swim LessonsSwim lesson sessions are offered at the Man-chester High School Main Pool and IOH Pool.

page 20

Better Manchester Magazine

CONTENTS

Rejuvenated MHS Continues to Rebuild Its ReputationManchester High School makes a comeback after a 2010 blow its reputation.

page 4

The Future of Center Springs ParkAn inside look at the park’s new master plan and

the bright future ahead.

page 9

Restoring Center Springs PondThe story behind the high tech dredging technique that’s restoring Center Springs Pond.

page 11

Centarian Looks Back at 100 Year of Center Springs

A tribute to park champion Bob Samuelson in honor of his 100th birthday.

page 13

Senior Center SectionPrograms, trips, support groups and more for

Manchester residents 60 years and older.

page 31

Manchester High School’s graduation rate has been climbing steadily for the past five years and is now at

about 90 percent—with no sign of the dreaded ‘achievement gap’ between racial groups.

The school has in the past few years won more than $600,000 in competitive grants, a flatter-ing indication of trust bestowed by prestigious educational philanthropic groups.

Current MHS students have unprecedented opportunities to earn college credits and also enjoy cutting edge ‘personalized learning’ op-portunities afforded through the school’s five themed academies. Plus, every student is giv-en a Chromebook computer, an instructional perk that remains relatively rare in public high schools these days.

Heck, even young MHS alumni are doing well, as in the past few years one grad made it to National Football League, another ventured inside North Korea to file a report for CNN, another competed in the Olympics and yet an-other performed on Broadway.

“I have never felt better about the state of the high school,” said Christopher Pattacini,

chairman of the board of education. “We have made remarkable progress in the past few years to improve student outcomes, and we hope that this work helps to rebuild confidence in MHS and our community."

Yes, rebuild. Because as pundits have long not-ed, while reputations are built over time they can be tarnished in an instant, and such was the case at MHS, dating to a Thursday morn-ing in December 2010 when a brawl in a hall-way led to the arrest of 19 students.

As scandals go, this was a big one. TV trucks descended on MHS almost immediately after news of the fight got out, and were still parked on East Middle Turnpike when students ar-rived the next morning. Newspaper coverage

was thorough. The event didn’t get the viral boost that it surely would have in this social media age, but it was still an unmitigated pub-lic relations nightmare.

With tensions high, school and district leaders held a meeting in the MHS cafeteria to field questions, debunk rumors (no, there were no weapons involved) and assure parents and community members that immediate steps were being taken to ensure student safety and to address the underlying and systemic issues that might have led to the altercation.

Still, there were plenty of skeptics and critics and the brawl was a hot and divisive topic in town for quite a while. Seven years later, it still crops up.

"I had just become board chair when the fight occurred,” Pattacini said. “I've seen the prog-ress we've made since then first hand and I'm proud of the great work that is happening in the school, thanks to the efforts of staff, ad-ministrators and students. I know it takes a long time to change perceptions, but I see that image changing for the better each and every day, both in our community, and outside."

Rejuvenated MHS Continues To Rebuild Its Reputation

"I know it takes a long time to change perceptions, but I see that image changing for the better each and every day, both in our community, and outside."

-Christopher Pattacini, Chairman of the Board of Education

A new MHS tradition: Just days before graduation, seniors return to elementary schools wearing caps and gowns, parading through the hallways to the cheers of younger students.

By Jim Farrel

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Pattacini’s enthusiasm is shared by others out-side Manchester, including the Nellie Mae Foundation, an education reform organization based in Quincy, Mass., that three years ago awarded MHS $300,000 to develop personal-ized learning opportunities for students.

MHS last year received another $300,000 grant, this from the Boston-based Barr Foun-dation that is being used to help plan learning opportunities that “blend the lines between school, college, career, and the community.”

Other educational experts are also bullish on MHS. Allison Zmuda, a consultant who has worked at hundreds of schools throughout the country (including, for the past three years, Manchester High) is effusive in her praise. She says MHS is at the forefront of “reimag-ining high school to prepare students for the

post-secondary world of college and work in a supportive environment."

Lyle Kirtman, a leadership-development con-sultant, also has worked regularly with staff at Manchester High and says the school has an impressive array of talent and resources.

“The combination of the adults and the stu-dents working in concert makes the school a model for districts throughout North Amer-ica,” said Kirtman, who has worked in more than 250 school districts throughout the Unit-ed States and Canada.

“We still have a lot of work to do but I feel good about the opportunities our students have and the supports that are available to them,” said Principal Katelyn Miner, herself a graduate (1991) of MHS. “Our students and staff are very proud of MHS and we believe everyone should be.”

HISTORY LESSONMiner, who was a swimmer while at MHS and still holds the school record in the 50 yard free-style, went to Boston College and then taught in Massachusetts before returning to Manches-ter in 1998 to work as a math teacher at MHS.

Back then, the high school was much bigger —close to 2,000 students compared to the current 1600—but had many of the same strengths that it still boasts today, among these an impressive array of courses (from highly rig-orous Advanced Placement classes to eclectic electives), an award-winning music and per-forming arts program, a deep and broad cata-log of sports and extracurricular activities and so on.

Alas, it didn’t have enough space two decades ago and thus found itself struggling to earn the blessings of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges—an institution that ev-ery 10 years evaluates whether an educational institution meets certain standards that make it worthy of accreditation.

MHS was placed on a warning list because of what NEASC called “resources for learn-ing” but taxpayers responded, voting to spend $35 million to construct a wing on the Sum-mit Street side of the building. The Freshmen Center opened in 2006 providing relief—and a thumbs up from NEASC.

By then, though, another accreditation cycle

“Our students and staff are very proud of MHS and we believe everyone should be.”

-Katelyn Miner, Principal of MHS

The broadcast journalism program at MHS is highly regarded, with students routinely winning awards at the national Student Television Network convention.

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had begun and NEASC flagged MHS for is-sues that included school leadership, a topic that moved to the fore in the aftermath of the brawl in 2010.

As part of the fallout from the brawl, then-Su-perintendent Kathleen Ouellette took over as principal for a spell before she named as inter-im principal Greg Ziogas, the recently retired principal of Plainville High School.

Ouellette left the district soon after, taking a job as superintendent in Waterbury, and she was succeeded on an interim basis by Richard Kisiel, the recently retired Avon superinten-dent.

So as the 2011-12 school year began, Interim Superintendent Kisiel had as his top priority hiring someone to replace Interim Principal Ziogas, with this new principal then expected to get MHS back in good graces with NEASC while also restoring community confidence in the high school that had been tarnished (to put it mildly) by the brawl.

Enter Matt Geary.

Geary left his principal position at Watertown High School in April 2012 to come to MHS and things changed quickly.

In his first year, MHS went high-tech, install-ing an automated attendance system that had (and still has) students using their ID cards to ‘swipe in’ through a card reader.

He also began an overhaul of the school’s systems and staff. Before, MHS had counsel-ors grouped in a single guidance office, with grade-level assistant principals scattered in individual offices throughout the building. Geary changed that, literally having a few walls knocked down to create ‘office suites’ where a group of adults (typically, an assistant princi-pal, two counselors, a social worker and a sec-retary) would work side-by-side, responsible for approximately 400 students.

Geary arrived at a time when lots of staff were retiring (about 50 in just two years). Others moved along, either voluntarily or otherwise, as he raised expectations for teachers, demand-ing that lessons be rigorous and relevant while all students were being held to high standards

and properly supported.

By his second full year, every student had a per-sonal Chromebook computer (paid for most-ly through the Nellie Mae and state Alliance grants) and also belonged to an academy; those ‘learning communities’ now each had a theme (medical careers, performing arts, STEM and so on).

The school also shuffled its resources, striving to ensure that struggling students received ap-propriate support. MHS started an ‘Imagine College’ program, with staff members vol-unteering to provide intensive individualized support to promising students who (in most cases) did not have a parent or older sibling who had ever attended college.

Changes also were made to create more rele-vant, authentic learning experiences. As exam-ples, an elective course was added for students interested in ‘video game design’ and a class-room was converted into a chic coffee shop (called ‘Silk City Cafe’) that was (and still is) run by students in culinary classes.

More than 100 students and staff from the high school pitched in as part of the recent town wide Rebuilding Together effort.

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“Things changed a great deal, and quickly,” said Dave Stetson, who has been at MHS for 28 years and is now director of guidance. “We definitely started doing a better job than before making sure we were supporting all students.”

NEASC agreed. MHS was taken off the ac-creditation ‘warning list’ with a wide range of commendations for things that included the development of professional learning commu-nities as well as “the meaningful involvement of teachers, support staff, students and parents in the development of the school improvement plan.”

In 2014, after two years and two months as principal, Geary was named superintendent (taking over for Kisiel) and Jill Krieger left her principal position at Enfield High School to take over at MHS.

Krieger spent three full years at the high school —years marked by growth of the academies and a further commitment to personalized learning—before being replaced last year by Miner.

Miner spent the 2017-18 year as an interim principal and was given the post on a perma-nent basis starting in July, and her tenure has coincided with the beginning of yet another round of scrutiny from NEASC.

This time around, MHS has fared well as the process has been unfolding.

NEASC evaluates schools using five distinct standards. Learning culture, for example, examines whether the school community provides a safe environment, while learning support looks at whether the school has appro-priate intervention strategies in place.

Miner says she has been pleased by the feedback she received after a NEASC team’s two-day vis-it. The team liked the school’s culture of con-tinuous improvement, intellectual risk-taking, and problem solving. They said that students really liked their teachers and that staff seem to take collective responsibility for all learners. They noted that there seemed to be an inclu-sive leadership culture that allows staff to work collectively and collaboratively.

“They also said we are reflective and a little hard on ourselves,” said Miner, adding that she is well aware that there’s much more work to be done.

Miner said MHS is committed to dramatically expanding experiential learning opportunities including job shadows, certification programs and internships beyond the school walls.

She also said the school is striving to ensure that a variety of student perspectives are heard regularly and factor into school decisions and programming, and cites as examples the recent creation of an American Sign Language club and the school's first e-sports team. Another example: a group of sophomores taking AP World History met with a team of freshmen social studies teachers to share how they could have been better prepared for grade 10.

“The freshmen teachers ate it up,” Miner said. “They had lots of questions and were grateful for the feedback.”

Speaking of AP courses, MHS students have plenty to choose from including two more this year—AP Computer Science Principles and AP Art History.

Students also routinely earn college credits while taking high school classes through ar-rangements with UConn and Manchester Community College. In fact, MHS is among the top three high schools in the state in terms of both the number of courses offered and the number of students enrolled in what’s called the UConn ‘Early College Experience’ pro-gram. (Next year, MHS expects to move closer to the top as more than 200 students are en-rolled in a new UConn ECE Human Rights course.)

“We need students to leave us with more than the minimum required 24 credits and pass-ing grades,” Miner said, noting that educators today are preparing students “for careers that don't yet exist, jobs we don't yet understand.” She said the staff’s challenge is to produce “crit-

Football players were pumped two seasons ago when they raced onto their new artificial turf field for the first time.

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ical and creative thinkers, communicators, and problem solvers, students who understand dif-ferent cultures, and can self-direct and reflect on their own learning and can collaborate with a diverse group of people.”

Miner’s daughter, Katherine, is a junior at MHS, with eighth-grader Carolyn headed there next year. Four MHS assistant principals also have children at the high school, as do a number of staff members. Miner said having so many staff members who glean insights from their parent perspective has been valuable, and validating.

“I think we have a great formula for an out-standing high school,” Miner said. “A reflec-tive, committed staff. Strong connections be-tween kids and adults. A team of adults that takes collective responsibility for every student. I think it's a good thing to always be a little

dissatisfied with the status quo and to always be looking for a better way to meet the needs of all kids. Obviously, my husband and I have purposefully chosen this setting to educate our own children - these teachers, these opportuni-ties, this student body. I wouldn't want it any other way.”

The rejuvenation of MHS has coincided with other improvements throughout the district.

Most notably: The continued overhaul of the K-6 school buildings. The newly renovated Waddell Elementary was gutted and expanded for this 2018-19 academic year with work now underway at Verplanck Elementary, which is slated to reopen for the 2019-20 school year. Town officials are still debating what to do about Bowers, Buckley, Keeney and Martin—with a referendum likely set for April 2019.Another positive development of late: The dis-

trict has a new Welcome Center (in a build-ing across from Mary Cheney Library), which is the hub of family-community partnership work funded largely by grants from The Hart-ford Foundation for Public Giving that have totaled close to $3 million over the last four years.

"Private foundations like Nellie Mae and The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving don't give money out willy-nilly,” said Pattacini. “They award funds through highly competitive and selective grant processes, and they would not give our district or the high school funds to support improvements, if they thought their money was not going to be well invested. This is a great independent validation of the work and resulting success. We need to keep build-ing on that success."

Hundreds of MHS students took part in an organized 'walk out' in March as part of a national protest highlight-ing school safety issues.

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“The ravine is BEAUTIFUL. Make it easier to access; make a sign, sitting areas!”

“Get rid of the guardrails and fences to make the park look more friendly.”

“Make this entrance way more visible and more welcoming.”

These were just a few of the comments shared by the Manchester Youth Commission at the Center Springs Park community input session last September.

“The voices of Manchester residents are essen-tial to shaping the Master Plan and the future of Center Springs Park,” says town planner Kyle Shiel, who was part of the cross-depart-mental team who spend eight months develop-ing the Center Springs Master Plan.

The plan was officially accepted by the Board of Directors in June 2018.

THE MAKING OF A MASTER PLANThree public input sessions, four town depart-ments, and over one hundred individuals con-tributed to the 57-page document which will serve as the “blue print” for Center Springs Park.

“The sessions included a broad range of res-idents of all backgrounds, from high school youth to senior citizens,” says Shiel, who orga-nized three public input sessions in the fall of 2017. “And, ultimately, across the board, ev-eryone was saying the same thing: ‘The park has great features but no one knows it’s here!’ ”

Christopher Silver, who heads the Department of Leisure, Family and Recreation and was part of the team who oversaw the recent ren-ovations at Charter Oak Park, emphasizes the importance of planning in advance of fund-ing opportunities. “The public input we’ve received, and a huge amount of coordination

among departments—from Public Works to Planning and Economic Development—has all gone into shaping this plan.” Accord-ing to Silver, the hard work of getting on the same page and setting priorities makes Center Springs a “shovel ready” project, which will be competitive for state, private, and even federal funding opportunities as they arise.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the plan-ning process is the cost of producing a plan (which, with consulting fees, can run into the six figures). That’s not the case with the Cen-ter Springs Master Plan which was produced entirely in house with support from Human Resources Government Academy students, the Manchester Youth Commission, and the Ad-visory Recreation and Park Commission, who hosted community input sessions; Planning & Economic Development, Public Works and Leisure, Family & Recreation who contributed analysis and structuring to the plan; Architect

the future of Center

Springs Park

By Rosaleen Torrey

Proposed amphitheater could host seasonal events and gatherings.

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Jared Abraham who, through a grant-funded position through the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association, advised on the plan from start to finish contributing much of the writing and all of the renderings; and recreation supervisor Nico Arias who pro-vided design and layout for the plan.

The full plan is available to the public at town-ofmanchester.org/planning. This issue of Bet-ter Manchester Magazine will give the broad strokes of the plan’s three major sections: Site Analysis, Strategies and Proposed Improve-ments, and Implementation.

SITE ANALYSIS Center Springs Park consists of 57 acres of greenspace adjacent to Town Hall, bordered by Broad Street to the west and Main Street to the east. The first forty acres were donated by the Cheney family in 1917. In 1921, the brook that bisects the park was dammed, creating the six-acre Center Springs Pond. The park was a regional destination in the 1920s and 1930s, hosting 6000 visitors in 1931 alone. Unfortu-nately, over time, the number of visitors dwin-dled and the park fell out of use.

In the eighties and nineties, under the leader-

ship of Recreation Director Scott Sprague, the park got a facelift with a host of improvements including:

• the construction of the Center Springs Lodge as the headquarters for the Recre-ation Department;• the dredging of Center Springs Pond to remove 250,000 – 300,000 cubic yards of sediment;• the creation of the forebay, separated from the pond by a Gabion Wall;• the construction of a walkway and fish-ing pier over the Gabion Wall;• a picnic pavilion built over the site of the old skating lodge;• and reconstruction of the trails as a bitu-minous walking path system.

Today, once again, Center Springs Park is un-dergoing a bit of a renaissance with:

• new features, such as the Cheney Rail Trail Bridge overlooking the Park, and a new pedestrian access from Broad Street;• new uses, including the popular disc golf course which has brought a new community, and one with a great sense of stewardship, to the park;• and new events, such as community fes-

tivals and service days organized by the citizen advocacy group Friends of Center Springs;• the reconstruction of Edgerton Street which borders the northwestern section of the park;• and the completion of the interior hik-ing loop begun in the 1990s with connec-tions to the Cheney Rail Trail and Broad Street entrance.

But there is still work to be done.

One of the park's greatest strengths is also one of its greatest weaknesses. The park’s bowl-like topography creates the opportunity for scenic vistas overlooking Center Springs Pond and the brook, especially at sunset. Due to this grad-ing, the majority of the existing amenities are located on the park's periphery. For example, the playground just south of the Lodge and the basketball court off of Trotter Street are located on the “rim” of the bowl and so require a steep trudge to access from the park. Consequently, these amenities feel separate from the park and are underutilized by park-goers.

And for a park with a greater than average number of access points, the entryways are

A more visible, formal entrance could welcome visitors on Main Street.

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underwhelming, hard to find, and—partic-ularly in the case of the east entrance which is bordered by a highway barrier—can seem cold and unwelcoming. The park is bor-dered by major arteries on three sides and just a stone’s throw from the Manchester Hospital on the fourth. But without ade-quate signage, as was noted time and time again in the public forums, many still don’t know it exists.

The third challenge is lack of usage. Al-though there has been an uptick in the vis-itors in recent years, partially following the tree thinning performed in 2013 and the in-stallation of the disc golf course in 2015, the park still doesn’t see the numbers one would expect considering its location. A further challenge, felt by communities across the state, is the continued limitations of budget and staffing that would be required to fully program a park of this size.

These concerns, and others, are addressed in the next section of the plan: Strategies.

STRATEGIES To address the bowl-like shape of the park, strategies include ideas for building on the strengths of the topography and building around its weaknesses. A simple idea is to simply move peripheral features—such as the playground—into the “bottom of the bowl,” closer to the pond, parking, and oth-er amenities. Other ideas include highlight-ing the unique topography of the park with new features, such as a bridge at the east end of the park to offer viewpoints over Bigelow Brook and an enhanced path to one of the park’s major assets, a hidden gorge.

To address the park’s lack of visibility, plans include creating enhanced entryways and signage especially focused on the eastern, Main Street entrance. Other potential en-hancements include a widened pedestrian

RESTORING CENTER SPRINGS POND

Twenty -three years.That’s how long it has been since Center Springs

Pond’s last successful dredging, when 250,000 – 300,000 cubic yards of silt and organic material were removed from the six acre pond.

Since then, sediment from the pond’s watershed—which extends over a mile, nearly to Shady Glen—has been slowly accumulating in the bottom of the pond, leading to algae blooms and an overall de-crease in water quality. According to Town Engineer Jeff LaMalva, this time 12,000 cubic yards of mate-rial will be removed, deepening the pond from 7 – 9 feet to its “native bottom” of 11 – 12 feet.

“The hope is to get the pond back to its natural state,” says LaMalva, who said the project was ini-tiated four years ago when the Board of Directors hired a specialist from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection to do a water quality study. In consultation with CT DEEP and the Army Corps of Engineers the project was put out to bid for a specialized process called “hydraulic dredging.”

“When Center Springs Pond was dredged in the nineties, the whole pond had to be drained to al-low for scooping up the sediment at the bottom of the pond,” says LaMalva. With hydraulic dredging, which is more cost effective, the process is more akin to dialysis: the water is cleaned section by section by seven “geotubes.” The tubes pump in the water, and then over the course of 7 – 10 days, allow the clear water to drain back out into the pond. Then the tubes are cut open and the sediment is trucked away. This process will take place three times before the project is completed this fall.

When the dredging is done, the pond will have less algae and more oxygen, creating a better habitat for fish and other wildlife. If all goes according plan, the hope is the pond won’t need another dredging for the next twenty five years.

Unique amenities like a "learn to bike" feature could draw visitors from around the region.

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entrance on Liberty Street (which connects the park to the hospital). If funding allows, a long term project could include a landscaped corridor through what is now the Town Hall Parking lot; this new feature would connect Center Springs Park to Center Memorial Park and the Mary Cheney Library.

Addressing both the topography and the park’s lack of visibility will help remedy the third problem: the park’s lack of use. Since the town is currently operating under a lim-ited budget to run events—which, in the state’s current economic cli-mate, is forecast to continue—the strategy for increasing park usage leans heavily on community partnerships. By encouraging groups such as the Friends of Center Springs Park and other nonprofits and commu-nity groups to permit the park for programs and events, Center Springs can draw new users without burdening the town with additional ex-pense or staffing requirements.

A long term strategy would include capi-tal improvements to draw users to the park by offering unique amenities. One idea, a “learn to bike” feature, could help reshape the park as a regional hub for communi-ty activity. Another, building on the park’s strengths as a place for passive recreation, is to re-create the playground as a na-ture-based playground, offering opportu-nities for families to engage with natural materials. This new playground would be

placed in the base of the bowl, adjacent to parking and a picnic pavil-ion. The site of the old playground could provide additional parking, with pedestrian access to the base of the bowl and a new waterfront arena for music and entertainment.

The next section of the plan presents a sample timeline of implemen-tation.

The hard work of getting on the same page and setting priorities makes Center Springs a 'shovel ready' project, which will be com-petitive for state, private, and even federal

funding opportunities as they arise.

-Christopher Silver, Director of Leisure , Family & Recreation

A wrap-around observation deck would provide views of Center Springs Pond and the pedestrian bridge.

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IMPLEMENTATION This section of the plan presents a sample timeline with the goal of sorting the pro-posals by a variety of factors: cost to the town, need for outside expertise/contrac-tors and estimated timeframe.

Some of the projects—enhanced landscap-ing, tree thinning—can begin immediately, with minimal expense, using the expertise of current staff. Others—creating new sig-nage for all entrances, relocating the play-ground—will require additional funding and outside expertise. And some—the corridor to Center Memorial, the Learn to Bike feature—are concepts that will require a significant investment of time, expertise, and, yes, additional planning.

It is important to note, though, that the timeline isn’t a commitment or a promise; it’s a tool, a guide to be used going forward. It will be subject, as all planning documents are, to the real-world conditions some fore-seeable, some not—which will shape the future of the town’s budget and resources.

Ultimately, the Center Springs Master Plan is a living document—one that will flex in response to funding opportunities, leader-ship changes and community concerns.

FROM DREAM TO REALITYThere’s a quote floating around the internet, sometimes attributed to Thomas Edison, other times to Seneca, a philosopher and playwright from ancient Rome. It goes like this: “Good fortune is what happens when planning meets opportunity.”

Planning doesn’t predict the future. It pre-pares for it.

And with this “shovel ready” plan, and the right opportunity, we’re one step closer to making the community’s dreams for Center Springs Park a reality.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

CENTARIAN LOOKS BACK AT 100 YEARS OF CENTER SPRINGS

When Bob Samuelson was born, Center Springs Park was just one year old. Last year, the park

celebrated 100 years of offering open space and rec-reational activities to Manchester children, youth, and families. This year, at the June Board of Directors Meeting, Samuelson was celebrated for his 100 years of life, residency, and advocacy in his home town.

Growing up on Hemlock Street, Samuelson had a front row seat to the Park as it became a regional des-tination in the 1920s and 1930s. He remembers huge crowds from all over the state gathering in the winter to cheer on their favorites in ice skating competitions and take to ice themselves at winter celebrations. When he married, he stayed close to the park—build-ing his own house next door to his childhood home.

In the 1960s, he argued against a proposal which would segment off a portion of the park as a new site for Lincoln School, citing concerns both over the loss of open space and the unsuitability of the soil condi-tions. In the seventies and eighties, he served on the town building committee and was a frequent attender and participant of Parks and Recreation committee meetings. Since his youth, Samuelson has walked the park daily earning a reputation as an outspoken and tireless champion for Center Springs Park.

On July 31st, Bob Samuelson turned 100 years old. He lives, as he always has on Hemlock Street, with his wife Mary just a stone’s throw from Center Springs Park.

In this rendering, an obser-vation deck and play area are easy to access from the parking lot.

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