Parks in Ashfield and Montague are getting upgrades thanks to a pair of state grants totaling $436,100.

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs recently awarded Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC), Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND), and Conservation Partnership grants that support 40 different communities, amounting to a total of $13 million.

Both the Ashfield and Montague awards fall under the PARC program, which was established in 1977 to assist cities and towns in acquiring and developing land for parks and outdoor recreation.

Ashfield received $96,100 to revitalize Belding Memorial Park on Buckland Road. The effort will include restoring the two existing tennis courts and adding a path from the courts to the beach bathhouse.

Paul McLatchy III, Ashfield’s town administrator, wrote in an email that the tennis courts are not in good condition, with a lot of cracks and “heaving,” which makes it not only inconvenient for tennis enthusiasts to play but also potentially hazardous.

New tennis lines and pickleball lines will be painted on the new courts.

“The goal is to make this a multi-use court so that a wider range of citizens can use it,” McLatchy explained. “With pickleball becoming more popular, it seemed like a logical option to add.”

The design portion of this project is already done. The town will be advertising for the contractor in the next few months, with construction to begin on July 1, 2024. According to McLatchy, town officials hope to have the project completed before the end of the summer, with the acknowledgment of the possibility of opening later due to supply and labor shortages.

“Ashfield will be getting a beautiful new court with substantial support from the state,” McLatchy wrote.

Meanwhile, Montague was awarded $340,000 for the reconstruction of Montague Center Park at the corner of School and Station streets.

Montague Center Park currently includes a playground, picnic area and ballfield. It’s been under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Department for several years, and in 2017 a public hearing was held to gauge interest in refurbishing the park. Approximately 30 Montague residents attended the meeting and enthusiastically supported any project that would improve the park.

“The park currently doesn’t meet the needs of the community, simply put,” Montague Parks and Recreation Director Jon Dobosz wrote in an email. “The playground area is poorly designed with antiquated units and is unappealing; there is no formal parking lot; and we want to continue our commitment to being a vital part of Franklin County’s pollinator corridor.”

Soon after the 2017 hearing, a project committee was formed. The committee obtained the services of the Conway School of Landscape Design, which developed a master plan in the spring of 2019. According to Dobosz, the project committee felt that pursuing a PARC grant through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs would be the best option to fund design and construction.

The project will include playground improvements, construction of a parking lot, the addition of a rain and pollinator garden, and the planting of additional trees, according to Dobosz.

A design phase will be completed by June 1, 2024 and a construction phase must be completed by June 1, 2025.

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.