Burlington Free Press Features Rec Path Story Today

[Henry]

Hi All,

I received a call last week from the writer of the following article in this morning's Burlington Free Press --  Although I was not too enthusiastic about answering any questions, she did use some of my responses.  She had never been to Fairfax before and is from Pittsburg where she too attended a school similar to BFA with all grades in one building.  She thought Fairfax was a beautiful town, which indeed it is and was amazed at the number of beautiful new houses.  Below is the photo, which is copyrighted, and the article written by Lauren Ober -- Free Press Staff Writer, regarding the long awaited Fairfax Recreation Path:


A recreation path in Fairfax meanders through a meadow near the Lamoille River on the edge of the Fairfax Community Park. The path and park, more than 10 years in the making, are scheduled to be complete this year.  Photo By PETER HUOPPI, Free Press

Fairfax park close to complete

By Lauren Ober
Free Press Staff Writer

May 15, 2006
FAIRFAX -- The Fairfax Community Park and Recreation Path has been a long time coming, but after 10 years of planning and building, the final phase of the project is poised to be finished by the end of summer.

The route the community took to build the park and recreational path is circuitous at best, and the endeavor hit many snags, including the discovery of ancient artifacts within the park's acreage.

Carol Lizotte, the town's director of parks and recreation, has shepherded the project through its many phases. The park's impending completion marks the end of a journey that brought various elements of the town together over the course of a decade.

In the early 1990s, the town leadership decided to purchase land for more athletic field space. Fairfax children had no place to play but their own yards or the school, remembers longtime Fairfax resident Henry Raymond.

The town settled on a piece of wooded property that abutted the Lamoille River owned by Central Vermont Public Service. Momentum ground to a halt in 1995 when University of Vermont archaeologists discovered prehistoric fire rings on the site.

A comprehensive excavation of the site began shortly thereafter, and about five years later, construction began on the first phase of the park: a ball field and an access road.

Lizotte, who up to that point had been a dedicated volunteer, soon became the bona fide project manager and secured nearly $200,000 in grants from organizations around the state to help fund the park.

The Vermont Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Vermont Agency of Transportation donated funds for the park, which would include four ball fields, an access road and a half-mile recreational path along the river.

In Lizotte's search for funding, she came upon a Vermont Army National Guard program whereby guard members work one weekend a month at civilian construction projects to help with their training. Their work came with a different cost -- time-- as Lizotte soon found out.

"They only work one weekend a month, and it took three years to finish Phase One," Lizotte said.

The brunt of the work for Phase Two -- the remaining athletic fields -- went to volunteer Myles Cahoon, who Lizotte says did 90 percent of the construction work as construction manager for the project. The three fields were completed last summer.

Cahoon is modest about his contribution to the park effort.

"I became the construction manager more by necessity. Somebody had to do it," Cahoon said.

Now, more than 10 years after the original inspiration for the project, the park is nearing completion. All that's left is to find a contractor to pave the recreational path and elevate it over the archaeologically protected area.

Raymond, who has lived in Fairfax since 1953, is pleased. "I think it's going to be an absolutely super thing. People will be able to walk around the river and enjoy nature. Fairfax doesn't have a town common, and the school was the place where people got exercise," he said.

The recreational path has been put out to bid, and Lizotte hopes it is finished in time for people to use it this year. The route will snake the path in a half circle from Maple Street at the covered bridge, past the stone foundations of an old toll house, through a wildlife natural area and around the western edge of the new athletic fields. It will end at a cul-de-sac by the access road.

Despite the piecemeal aspect of the project, Lizotte said the whole park will be well worth the wait.

"Everyone is dying in this town to see this happen," she said.
Have a question, comment, story idea? Contact Lauren Ober at 660-1868 or lober@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com