Burlington Plans to Expand Park
by NewsChannel 5

Burlington's parks and rec department is getting ready for some big projects this summer -- and spending big money to do it. NewsChannel 5's Carolyn Roy is live with livelink 5 on the waterfront -- where one of the biggest projects is about to get underway soon.

Thom -- the parks and rec department is planning on spending nearly a million dollars this summer on three major projects. The largest of these -- will be here behind the coast guard station... A 200-foot-long fishing pier --12 years in the making -- it will provide fishing access for those who do not have boats.

The pier -- which will cost 600-thousand dollars to build -- will be free and open to the public -- a long awaited addition to the city's waterfront. Construction has already begun on the skatepark nearby -- a 200-thousand dollar project set to open in early July. The third major project -- infrastructure improvements to an aging perkin's pier.

Bob Whalen, parks & recreation dept. "this pier, the marina part of it, was developed in the early 60's and the bulkhead that surrounds the boat slips is a wooden bulkhead that's starting to fail, so this is really, it's not a pretty project, it's an infrastructure project, but we're also gonna be replacing lights and putting in a new walkway."

Work on Perkins pier is set to begin in late July or august -- as is work on the fishing pier -- but they have to wait for the water to recede first. The hope is to have both completed and open for business in the fall.

Now -- these projects are in addition to the parks and recreation department's annual maintenance and upkeep budget...they're part of a four year, 2-million dollar spending plan set up in 1996. Other projects already completed under that four-year spending plan include improvements to the boathouse, the new bathhouse at north beach, and renovations to the leddy park ice arena.