The RLA team at work.

A snapshot of Isabelle Gardens

By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE

sconstantine@repub.com

AGAWAM – A proposed five-lot subdivision for land near Federal and Main streets will come before the Planning Board’s meeting set to start at 6:30 tonight at the Agawam Public Library.

Robert M. Levesque, the president of the land use firm in Westfield working on the project, said that the owner of the parcel, Joseph Tirone, wants to build houses there ranging in price from about $350,000 to $400,000.

Tirone, who had plans filed under Tirone Development, needs approval from the Planning Board for the subdivision. The lot sizes are .47 acres, 49 acres, .55 acres, 1.52 acres and .46 acres.

Plans call for building an access road ending in a cul-de-sac for the houses. The access road would be built between residences at 45 and 35-37 Federal St.

The developer would like to start site work this fall, with construction beginning in mid to late spring, according to a report on the project Levesque filed with the Planning Department.

The land is mostly wooded and the homes will be larger than those already in the area and have “a slightly more rural aesthetic” the report states. The project’s effect on traffic in the area is expected to be negligible, according to the report.

Because there is an isolated, vegetated wetland near the parcel’s northeastern property line the project will also need the approval of the Conservation Commission. It will hold a hearing on it Aug. 12 at 6:30 p.m.

RLA provides construction stakeout for all of our design projects and for local contractors.

“The major issue,” said Douglas A. Moglin, board chairman, “is what we’re going to do with Southwick Hill.”

Residents of Southwick Hill, an area north of the project site, are urging the board to put a condition on the development that there be no road connection to Southwick Hill Road.

It’s a narrow street with children, Gary L. Emond, of 20 Southwick Hill Road, told board members Tuesday night.

“My small kids are out there,” he said, worrying about children playing in the neighborhood.

Gary Mitchell, of 15 Southwick Hill Road, said that if a road connection is made from Southwick Hill to the condos, it might be used to avoid traffic on College Highway.

“That’s going to be a shortcut,” he said.

If a road connection is made between Southwick Hill and the condominiums, said Emond, it should not be a through connection but only a passage for emergency use.

“I’d like to see a gate there,” he said.

Moglin said he will organize a site visit for the board to get a better sense of the road situation.

The proposed condos would rise on 24 acres of the Phelps-Southwick Realty Trust. Planned are 25 buildings of from 1 to 3 units each, with a total of 59 condominium units.

The project needs a special permit and site plan review from the board, as well as variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Robert M. Levesque, architect, said the 25 buildings will not overcrowd the site, and that several more buildings could be built on it, but in a concession to having good storm water drainage, not using sloped areas, the project will have just 25.

“We were very fortunate to have a client who didn’t want to max out the development,” Levesque said.

Also, he said, the development will work around an historic homestead on the site, rather than remove it.

Barbara A. MacEwan, chairwoman of the town Historical Commission, said the commission is pleased that the buildings of the homestead will be preserved.

Last night, the Park and Recreation Department presented a plan in a public hearing to revamp the 82-year old, three-acre facility toe expand the resources for what officials aid was a growing need. The plan calls for renovating the restrooms, doubling the number of softball fields, improving the playscape area and revamping parking on the site to cut down on the on-street parking.

A Community Services Director Ann Marie Heiser said last night that the Chapman Playground is becoming more and more important to the city’s recreational system.

“We now use it for spring and fall programs, including T-ball, flag football in the fall, field hockey in the summer and our preschool sports programs,” she said. “The last time we made improvements to the playground was 1980.”

The area has become as center of Russian and Ukrainian recreation, which many more children living close by the field. That, Heiser said, means the playground will be getting much more usage.

Neighbors were shown a plan to eliminate a tennis court that see little play and has fallen into disrepair, and to install two “skinned” or dirt-infield softball fields and a regulation-size multi-purpose field.

A “wish list” plan was presented last night that landscape architect Robert Levesque said incorporated all the elements the Park and Recreation Department would like to see, if money were no object.

But, money is an object, Heiser said. She estimated the cost four refurbishing the playground would be less than $500,000. The department is applying for a self-help grant from the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and the Division of Conservation Services. Heiser said the grant would pay up to 70 percent of the cost of the project.

At-large Councilor Barbara Swords said last night that she did not believe that neighbors in the Highland area neighborhood had been properly notified.

“I don’t believe that a majority of the neighbors are here tonight,” said said.

Developers had sponsored a “neighborhood meeting” Tuesday evening, but Swords said the invitation were not necessarily all encompassing.

“I feel certain that some people were invited,” she said. “But I know some people were not. I was one of those. I live near there and I don’t get an invitation.”

Swords moved to hold open the public hearing on a special permit until other neighbors had an opportunity to view the plans.

But, in the end, only on other councilor, Brian Sullivan, joined Swords in voting for the extension. Ten other councilors voted to close the hearing and refer the matter to the License Committee.

Rob Levesque, of R. Levesque Associates, a land use consultant, told the council during the special permit hearing, that a large portion of the Rusolillo family property behind Granville Road homes and very near Highland School, would become the setting for “an up-scale community for active adults,” he said. Access to the property from Granville Road would be through a piece of frontage property acquired by the developers at 78 Granville Road.

At least two neighbors were aware of the project. Deb Tully, who lives nearby on Western Avenue, said she feared that the scale and price of the development might affect surrounding properties.

“The units themselves are larger than existing houses in the area,” she said, “and much more expensive than surrounding home. How can they (the developers) reconcile the market price with the surrounding residences?”

Tully suggested that the city preserve the woodland area as a park.

But at the same time, Jack Shea, a nearby neighbor, said he was afraid the development would change the character of the neighborhood, and rather than enhancing the surrounding property values, would devalue the existing homes.

“This will drastically change the neighborhood,” he said. “This is not a high density neighborhood, but the project would make it. I hope the city is thinking about preserving the character of its neighborhoods. And, what about property values. There are not a lot of multi-family units in the area. Would that negatively impact our property values?”

The development would include 43-units of condominium housing, with price tags in the mid-to upper $300,000 range. Each of the two-story units would offer 2,220 square feet of living space and a two-car garage.

Neighbor Joseph Flahive said he was satisfied with the project.

“This is the least significant development possible for that site,” he said. “Any development will have an impact, but I see this as minimal. They have been very thoughtful in designing this.”

Levesque said not all of the Rusolillo property would be used for the construction. At least four acres, directly behind the Rusolillo home, would remain with the family.

The age-restricted development would allow only residents 55 years old or older under homeowner association rules. If the City Council Special Permit is granted, it, too, will enforce the age limitations on the project.

The council’s License Committee will take up the measure within the next two weeks, and send a positive or negative recommendation to the full council at its next meeting.

Rob Levesque, of R. Levesque Associates, requested a special permit from the City Council for the 21-acre project Thursday evening. A public hearing will be scheduled.

Earlier, Levesque presented the plan to the city’s Water Commission, seeking a water hookup.

He said the developers of the property, Jason Falcone and Ziter Saloomey, operting as Granville Road LLC, purchased most of the property formerly owned by the late Isabelle Rusolillo and her son Dr. Gary Ruslillo at 78 Granville Road.

Levesque said the developers plan to retain the existing home at that address and build 41 unites of upscale over-55 housing on the acreage behind.

Levesque presented a plan showing nine duplex units and 23 single residences in a high density configuration.

However, Levesque pointed out that while the Rusolillo property abuts the playground at Highland School, the family will retain a four-acre portion of the property, the potion which abuts the school grounds, providing a buffer between the students areas and the residential development.

The house at 78 Granville Road will remain and be incorporated into the condo development, Levesque said.

Tuesday evening Levesque presented the plans to the city’s Conservation Commission as a courtesy. He said the development violates no wetland areas, nor encroaches into any sensitive buffer areas.

The City Clerks Office will schedule a public hearing on the special permit request at a future City Council meeting.

“The Phase I project will start this spring,” Jeff Neece DPW Director said Thursday. “It’s hard to pin-point an exact month.”

The Phase I project entails construction of a three-mile segment of the rail-trail from the Connecticut State line north to Point Grove Road. It includes a 10-foot wide asphalt trail, two-foot grass shoulders, two bridges, and a tunnel under Point Grove Road.

The materials are projected to cost roughly $2 million or so, with professional services bringing its total cost close to $5 million.

According to Neece, the Phase I project will involve six months worth of construction work which includes building a road crossing, bridge and tunnel.

A contract for Phase I was signed with Lane Construction of Westfield in January for $2.7 million.

“The Phase II project is simpler then Phase I,” Neece said. “But it is necessary for it to be delayed.”

Richard Rust, a restaurant general manager for Taco Bell International, the owner and operator of the restaurant, said construction work on the new building has been completed, and now the company is seeking certificates of completion from city departments in preparation for the grand opening.

While Rust has been on-site preparing the restaurant for opening, he said the manager of the local Taco Bell will be Mathew Cummings, a Westfield resident.

Cummings hired a working crew for the restaurant in October of last year, Rust said, and those workers have been traveling to various other restaurant locations as part of their training regime.

The last step for the crew before the actual opening will be a “Family Day,” Rust said, as friends and family of the workers are invited to act as customers in a “dress rehearsal.”

“That will be the first time all the crew is together in one place,” Rust said.

The restaurant takes the place of the former Woody’s Brick Oven Pizza shop, which closed after a fire in October of 2004.

Taco Bell International was bale to eventually find a design that satisfied flood plain concerns of the Conservation Commission and construction in the new building began during the summer of 2007.

A grand opening and ribbon cutting, with Mayor Michael Boulanger, is scheduled for January 28.

R. Levesque Associates, LLC submitted an assessment of the project to chemically eradicate Eurasian water milfoil, started in 2001, and treatment of curly pondweed and water buttercup, initiated in 2002 and 2003.

Raymond C. Levesque reported that neither curly pondweed nor water buttercup were found in a survey conducted last fall. Milfoil was found only in an isolated area and could be harvested by hand to prevent it from reestablishing in the lakes.

“The town wants to monitor (the eradication program) as part of a comprehensive program, Dennis Clark, conservation coordinator, said, “We’ve gotten rid of 99 percent of the milfoil and the other invasive plants. The treatments have been very effective.

“The good weeds, native plant life displaced by the invasive plans, are now taking over. The question now is how much of those plants is too much or not enough,” he said.

Boaters and swimmers would prefer a low plant population, while fishermen prefer a robust plan environment which provides habitat and food sources for game fish.

“The first thing we’ve done is to catalog everything in the lake,” Clark said. “This year the Conservation Commission, Lake Management Commission and the users groups will get together to discuss lake (environment) management.”

Other factors that will affect the discussion are upcoming dredging projects.

“I think we have eight dredging projects to clear out silt and stuff that has degraded the quality of the lake,” Clark said. “Some of that is a natural process, some of it is due to all of the activity on the lakes.”

Clark said that a study group will be established to focus that effort.

“I’m not against business,” Rosewood Estates resident Joseph Smith said, “but I don’t want to be surrounded by all kinds of businesses. I think College Highway could become a mini-Riverdale Road if we don’t watch out.”

Article 19 on Town Meeting warrant asked for a rezoning of more than 64 acres of property fronting on College Highway. The original proposal would have expanded the Business Restricted (BR) zoning from the current 500 foot depth from its frontage on College Highway, to nearly 1,400 feet deep and to change the rear portion of the parcel to R-20-B to allow for construction of an age-restricted housing development not unlike either Rosewood Estates or Wynnfields which bracket the parcel.

However, even before discussion on the rezoning proposal began, an amendment to keep the current zoning from College Highway to approximately 1400 feet back on the parcel, and to change just the rear portion allowing the age-restricted development was proferred.

Land Use consultant Rob Levesque, representing land owner Paul Silan said the amendment would have allowed the front 1,400 feet of the parcel to remain as it is now, 500 of Business Restricted and approximately 900 feet of R-40 residential. The remainder of the parcel would be rezoned to R-20-B, he said.

While the amended proposal would have maintained the current zoning for all portions of the parcel which abut either Rosewood Estates or Wynnfields, that proposal was also rejected.

A similar fate awaited a Planning Board proposal to rezone several discreet parcels in that same area of College Highway as a way to conform split zoned properties, Town Planner Marcus Phelps said.

Article 23 would have rezoned four parcels as Business Restricted from the frontage on College Highway to the rear of the parcels.

Currently, those properties are zoned Business Restricted from the frontage to a depth of 500, then rezoned R-40 for the rest of its depth.

Again, residents complained that expanding business zoning that that area would invite commercial development surrounding the upscale retirement subdivision.

As soon as the two articles concerning zoning along the northern end of College Highway had been dispatched, nearly half the assembled 250 people seated for the Town Meeting left the Southwick High School auditorium as the rest of the warrant voting continued.

“Winding River Land Conservancy is in the final stages of taking ownership.” Southwick Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart said Friday of the Westfield-based entity which aids communities in acquiring and preserving open space and land for recreation as well as launching an effort to land state grants. “But at this point the odds of landing the property are up in the air.”

According to WRLC vice president, Mark Noonan, the state dealt a recent blow to the deal to purchase the land by failing to approve a $500,000 self-help grant. But the group is still moving forward to get the deal done, albeit at a slower pace than originally planned.

“We are still in the phase of doing our due diligence for the eventual purchase of the property,” Noonan said.

The property being targeted for purchase by the Town of Southwick is located behind The Cove, formerly The Brass Rail, and includes the lower parking lot, large lawn area, a pavilion, and two residential structures, both of which are expected to be demolished when the park is developed.

Plans to purchase the property from the current owners, Patricia and Joe Scuderi, also the long time owners of Crabby Joe’s on Congamond Lake, have been ongoing for close to a year.

The town’s Open Space Committee, Conservation Commission, Park and Recreation Department, and Planning Board have been instrumental in trying to attain funding for the project.

Now that the latest grant was denied-the state has sent word of that action but no official paperwork in relation to the application-Stinehart said all the town’s various committees involved with the project are now looking for funding elsewhere.

Noonan said those monies could come from other avenues as well.

“We will look for other state grants and we may seek out private foundations,” he said. “We have to look to other means to get the land.”

Originally, town and project officials had said the money appropriated by the townspeople would never be raised or spent, but was needed for leverage to qualify for a state self-help grant.

A requirement of that grant program is that the applying community authorize local funding, even if it is never used, at 60 percent of the grant level, or $300,000.

The purchase price of the land is about $625,000. If the self-help grant would have been applied, the town had anticipated to pay the remaining $125,000 from its Community Preservation Act funding.

CPA money is collected as a surcharge on local property, then matched, dollar for dollar at the current time, with state funds so that when the park is finally purchased, local residents will have funded just $65,000 of the entire sale.

“We had hoped to close (the deal) sooner than this,” Noonan said. “But we are still going through the process. We are still actively trying to bring it to a conclusion.

Whalley, 63, owner of Whalley Computer Associates and grandfather of 11, plan to donate 70 acres of land adjacent to the existing town recreation center along Powder Mill Road.

“We are thinking of building approximately three soccer fields and six baseball fields, so parents can go from one game to another. We’ll have plenty of parking space there. But first we have to through certain formalities,” said Whalley.

He’s already received the go-ahead for the project from selectmen and made the Conservation Commission happy with his promise to put half of the land into a conservation reserve to preserve it as open space for the future.

To get to second base, Whalley must have a site plan approved by the Planning Board; to get to third, he will need some volunteer help; and to make it to home plate, the project has to get some state grants.

Whalley declined to place a value on the land he plans to donate and said he didn’t have the total financial cost of the project yet.

“We’ve developed a preliminary plan that has to go through some of the boards and we already have a lot of volunteers to help us clear the land. There’s a lot of brush and trees. As soon as we can get approval (from all the town’s boards) will be applying for some grants to help build the complex. Half of the land will be a conservation area. We are planning to put some trails around there,” he said.

Whalley said his three grandsons and eight granddaughters “are all already involved with baseball, softball and soccer,” providing him with an inspiration for his project.

“I can’t do it now. If I donated it now it would never get done. I will complete the park and then sell it to the town for one-third what it cost me,” said the owner of the town’s largest business, Whalley Computer Associates. “If I said ‘Take the park now,’ it would never get paved. There would be no lights.”

While Whalley has not yet formally requested the $1.5 million sale price be set for the park, members noted that the CPA account does not currently contain that much funding.

“We can bond for it,” Vice Chairman of the committee, Dennis Clark said. “It is a great project – one hell of a deal – for the town.”

But purchasing the 70-acre park, with three baseball diamonds, at least two regulation-size soccer fields, a concession stand and restrooms is only part of it, committee member Barbara MacEwan pointed out.

“If it is turned over to the town, then the town pays for its continuing maintenance,” said said. “I think I would like to have the Park and Rec (Park and Recreation Commission) speak to this.”

The Finance Committee earlier had the same reservations, that the town would be responsible for the upkeep on a high-end facility.

But Whalley said several aspects being built into the park make it able to generate its own funds if necessary.

“There are a lot of opportunities to make money with the park,” he said, pointing to the lighted fields and its use as a concert venue. And he said, being adjacent to the Moto-X 338, “It would be the closest parking to the Nationals.”

Part of the agreement he would request when selling the property to the town would be that the Park and Rec share use of the facility with the private Southwick Recreation Center. That, he said, would bring in volunteers to help keep the facility maintained. Whalley said planner Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates land use consultants estimated the park would cost closer to $7 million as a municipal project, due to the town’s bidding process and prevailing wage requirements. Levesque said bids for the paved roadways within the park complex have topped.

Whalley serves as the chairman of the CPC, but relinquished his seat for the informal hearing.

Historic Commission Chairwoman Barbara MacEwan said yesterday that a months-long process of brainstorming and examination of various s vistas and parts of the town by a 1 7-member ad hoc committee made up of town residents, resulted in the DRC report reported last week.

“We asked everyone to suggest a place that they would like to see still there in 50 years,” she said. “These are the places that people felt if they were lost, that would change the character of the town.”

Each of the six “landscapes” gets it designation for a variety of reasons, MacEwan said. Some are because of historical significance, some because of their natural resource significance, and others for purely visual beauty and still others for combinations of attributes.

Gillette Corner at the intersection of Vining Hill Road and College Highway was included for its historical importance to the town, MacEwan said. The area has a significant relationship to the tobacco industry, one of the most important agricultural products the town has produced. MacEwan said one of the criteria DCR looks for in a heritage area is its easy visibility to the pubic and its relative danger to change through development.

The northern corner of the intersection was the homestead of Charles Gillette in the late 1800’s, who became one of the largest growers of tobacco in the region and created a tobacco processing complex at the site. That processing included the Gillette Cigar factory, still standing on the site.

The heritage area includes the Methodist Episcopal Church, not far away on College Highway.

The Moore House and surrounding field in the Jog of Southwick is the second heritage landscape area included in the DCR report.

MacEwan said the area was the agricultural center of town in the 1700s.

The Rail Trails at Congamond Lake is the largest and most complex heritage area. It incorporates the recreational areas surrounding Congamond Lake, the path of the former Northampton to New Haven Canal and the railroad passage that superseded the canal.

The Rail to Trails bike path ties the large area together well enough to designate the area as one landscape.

The Town Center has changed drastically over the years, MacEwan said. But the committee felt that the area from approximately Town Hall north to Southwick Hill Road and from the western side of College Highway to Powder Mill Road should be included as the Town Center district.

Ask someone where the Slab Brook Plain is and you may well get confused looks from even the oldest of townspeople. MacEwan said ask someone where Chuck’s Steakhouse is and everyone knows. Same place, she said. The heritage area extends along College Highway from The Southwick Country Club Golf Course at Sunnyside Road south to incorporate Tannery Road.

The area is known specifically as an agricultural area, and even today has many tobacco, corn and hay growing fields.

The last designated area, the Coes Hill area, is included specifically for its natural beauty. From its intersection with College Highway to its crossing with Hillside Road, Coes Hill Road has several breathtaking vistas that alone should qualify it for inclusion in the inventory, MacEwan said.

All of the heritage areas included in the survey are in danger to some extent, said MacEwan. While being included does not give those areas protection, it does not give those areas special protecting, it does highlight each area’s contribution to the town and its need for preservation, she said.

MacEwan said each of the descriptive entries in the report also give suggestions for protecting the heritage that is the land of Southwick.

The report is available at the Town library and can be downloaded from the Town’s Web site, www.southwickma.org

The proposal includes the renovation of Walt’s Garage and the demolition of a building adjacent to it, which is also listed as a town historical structure. An abandoned Quonset hut on the property, located at the corners of routes 57 and 10 and 202, would also be leveled to make room for additional parking related to the proposed facility expansion.

The Southwick Inn, owned by John and Kathy Whalley, would nearly double in size under the proposed plans, which must meet state Department of Environmental Protection approval, as well as approval from the Conservation Commission and Planning Board prior to moving forwards.

Robert M. Levesque, of R. Levesque Associates Inc., of Westfield, said during yesterday’s public hearing the proposal would include an additional 2,00 square feet of space to the Southwick Inn’s existing 2,500 square feet. The plans include the creation of an open air beer garden on the Route 57 side of the building and additions to the first and second floors.

The proposed parking lot would extend along the western portion of the property, across an intermittent stream and onto land which currently houses an unused Quonset hut. The hut would be demolished, Levesque said, and the existing gravel parking areas would be paved and graded, which he said would create a better situation for drainage issues previously unaddressed on the property.

Levesque said a 23 foot long pre-fabricated bridge would be extended across the stream which would allow access for cars as well as foot traffic. This additional “overflow” parking lot would provide an additional 108 spots for vehicles; the existing parking lot adjacent to the Southwick Inn will also be paved and upgraded, said Levesque.

Last night’s proposal also includes the replication of over 5,000 square feet of wetland area, which would be created on multiple locations surrounding the Whalley’s property. Levesque said portions of the land had been designated as an endangered species area, but those concerns had recently been addressed and the protected area has been remapped and reduced. Storm water improvements are also in the planning, which would improve the runoff into the stream running through the property.

“The storm drainage would definitely be an improvement to the area,” said Dennis Clark, Southwick’s Conservation Commissioner.

The plans also include the restoration of Walt’s Garage, which would be used as an auto sales

Robert J. Vogel, of West Springfield, a World War II Navy veteran and state director for Sampson Navy Veterans, and Robert C. McKean, of Southampton, an Air Force veteran and managing director of Stanley Park, are spearheading an effort to create a veterans memorial at Stanley Park.

“I approached the board of trustees of the park in February,” said McKean, “and they gave their approval. Mr. Beveridge (founder of Stanley Park) always had a place in his heart for the military. If they worked for StanHome, when they came back from military service, they always had their jobs waiting. He made sure of that.”

With a $5,000 donation from the Beveridge Family Foundation, design work was provided courtesy of Robert M. Levesque, president of Levesque Associates of Westfield and a member of the park’s board of directors, and with a commitment from Chester Granite Co. in Blandford to provide the memorial itself, the committee of 10 volunteers is well on its way to building the memorial.

McKean explained that other than the initial seed money and the park’s donated location for the memorial, all other expenses will be borne by the veterans’ committee through donations, whether monetary or in kind. They have set a goal of raising between $35,000 and $40,000.

“Hopefully, we’ll get a lot of donations in kind,” said McKean, “contractors or someone to come and dig for us, because here at the park, we don’t have the heavy equipment we’re going to need.

“It’s a nice spot, (it will be) all handicapped accessible and near where there’s a lot of handicapped parking already,” McKean said of the sloping verdant area that has been selected for the memorial.

The memorial will salute the five branches of service-the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Air Force- and will also include the Merchant Marine.

“We want to make it for our past, present and future veterans,” said McKean. “We’re going to be including the Merchant Mariners, not officially a branch of service, but in World War II, they had per capita more losses than any other branches. They were the ones taking all the ships into harm’s way.”

“We don’t see any memorials with their insignia on it,” said McKean, and it wasn’t until 1988 that veterans benefits were authorized for Merchant Marines.

“The committee voted unanimously to include them.”

The memorial, in its simplicity, is intended as a reminder to park visitor that “freedom isn’t free,” said Vogel.

“We were very appreciative of the opportunity (of locating the memorial in the park) because of all the people that come here,” said Vogel, “an opportunity for kids, teenagers and veterans in the future to be able to go there and see this.

“So many people have given their lives so that we can enjoy what we have today. I’ve been asked ‘How many monuments do you need?’ My answer is that there are not enough. I’d like to see one on every corner.”

The monument itself will bear the six service insignia and a simple text. A flagpole will be either solar can fly 24/7, McKean said. The memorial site will be approximately 30 feet in diameter with a sitting wall, so that “people can just sit and remember,” he said.

“I’ve always been one to want to make it a living memorial wherever it was, even at the cemetery,” said McKean, who was responsible for the oversight of the construction and operation of two Veterans Memorial Cemeteries in the commonwealth-in Agawam and in Winchendon. “You can honor your vet no matter where you are, but sometimes it’s a monument that brings us all together.”

In doing so, ceremonies at the Veterans Memorial at Stanley Park will not conflict with Memorial Day, Veterans Day or other ceremonies in the city, he said.

“We’re not going to make this a military institution. It’s still a family park,” said McKean, “it always will be. It’s just a little piece of the family park that will be dedicated to the men and women who have served it, made us able to have a park.

“I’ve done a lot of dedications of monuments, and one thing I think is that we can never do enough.

“We can’t go back and pay it back to the one’s we’ve lost. This is a way for us of paying it forward to the generations that will come after us,” he said.

Stanley Park will soon become home to a new effort to recognize veterans, including Merchant Marines past, present and future.

An effort to create a Veterans’ Memorial at Stanley Park is gaining momentum with donations of seed money, a site, design, granite and flag pole already secured. Now, a 10-member committee it trying to raise the $50,000 to $60,000 needed for amenities for the memorial.

The effort is being led by World War II Navy veteran Robert J. Vogel, of West Springfield, Stanley Park director Robert C. McKean and eight other members of a volunteer committee created earlier this year.

“When I think of those veterans, I think of those who made the ultimate sacrifice or suffered injuries that affect their quality of life,” said the 81-year-old Vogel. “We cannot do enough to recognize these individuals.”

McKean, an Air Force veteran and former director of the state Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, agrees with Vogel’s determination to recognize veterans. “Nothing is too much in this area,” he said.

The group has already raised some $9,000 toward the endeavor, which includes $5,000 courtesy of the Beveridge Family Foundation, which operates Stanley Park, McKean said.

In addition to the financial support, Stanley Park has donated a site for the memorial, which sits in a manicured bowl-shaped parcel just off Western Avenue.å

Vogel said Allen William, of Chester Granite Co. in Blandford, will provide the granite and other stone work needed for the memorial.

“The largest expense is the monument itself and property location,” said Vogel.

The design work was provided courtesy of Robert M. Levesque, president of R. Levesque Associates, of Westfield, and a member of the board of directors at Stanley Park.

“This project could not be undertaken without the support of Stanley Park and others who have already volunteered efforts and funding,” McKean said. “Despite the site location at Stanley Park and donation from the Beveridge Foundation, this memorial must be constructed by donations. Park funding cannot be used for construction.”

“We have also drawn on volunteers from the Veteran’s Cemetery and others to assist on the project committee,” Vogel said.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to honor all veterans, but it cannot be accomplished without assistance from volunteers,” McKean said.

“The location for the memorial is perfect and will include a reflection area and adequate parking.” Vogel said.