ANDOVER -- The town is entering the first phase of a project to gradually turn 44 acres of land on Chandler Road into a large recreational area.
The goal is to use town-acquired land at 138-140 Chandler Road to create a dedicated area for multipurpose fields, courts and other recreational amenities as the demand for those spaces has grown in recent years.
Town Manager Andrew Flanagan said residents are looking for things like pickleball courts, a community garden and other recreational fields, and the town saw an opportunity with the available land.
The town will hold a public input session to discuss the scope of work for phase one at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Andover Police Department, 32 North Main St.
In 2021 voters approved the purchase of two parcels of land at 138-140 Chandler Road for $4 million. The property had long served as a farm.
Public input has been collected to see how residents wanted to utilize the land. Now, the community's vision is about to be implemented. Flanagan said officials are excited to begin to activate the space and show progress with the project based on residents' input.
While there was some consensus on key components for the space like playing fields, one of the constant ideas presented by residents was an accessible community garden.
Flanagan said the town has a community garden, but it is not fully accessible.
The community garden is also an ode to the land's past farm history. It will be on a part of the property that can only be used for that type of project and situated right up against Chandler Road, Flanagan said.
This phase will consist of the removal of the barn on the property which now poses a hazard. A vacant house will also be taken down. By the spring, a community garden and parking lot are projected to be built along with an entry point into the property.
Since it purchased the land, town officials have acquired funding for the first phase through Andover's capital budget and state earmarks.
The Select Board also designated American Rescue Plan Act money to be used to develop the Chandler Road recreation area. Flanagan said the town has approximately $1 million to advance the project.
"The idea here is to use some of those time-limited funds like ARPA (COVID-related grants), to create a community benefit and gradually increase use to the site," Flanagan said.
He added everything the town is doing now is necessary to get to other phases of this project.
The Capital Improvement Program, which will be ready in October, will have some funding to develop future phases. Those phases will also be driven by community input.
The town has circulated a conceptual design for the larger project, but phase two will hone in on the full design. Flanagan said the town will request more capital funding at the 2025 town meeting for phase two's design. If passed in the spring, public input for the design process would begin in fall 2025.
Flanagan said there is no set date for the project's completion, but expects it to be completed gradually over several phases.
"The community will set the pace based on their input and the available sources," Flanagan said. "The beautiful part is we own the site and have the flexibility to grow into it over time."