New blacktop walkway installed at Carpenter Park

A new blacktop walkway has been installed at Carpenter Park in Chester, improving the park’s accessibility. The walkway goes between the park’s two baseball fields and connects to the park’s t-ball field.

The walkway, which was paid for by a $95,500 grant from Orange County to the Town of Chester, is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Both the town and the village of Chester own the park, but the town is primarily responsible for maintaining it.

The park is the home of Little League baseball and softball games, Kiwanis events, pickleball, tennis, basketball and the senior picnic coming in September. Consorti contractors installed the new walkway.

“We are granting people of all capabilities the ability to use the park,” Supervisor Brandon Holdridge said.

Councilman Robert Courtenay said making the town’s parks ADA compliant is a priority. “I think it’s very important that we’re finally getting upgrades to our parks. Now we’ll be ADA compliant,” he said.

Other parks have also seen improvements in recent years. In 2024, winterized tarps and new lighting were installed at Chester Commons. At Oak Street Park, a new slide was installed this year. Security cameras have been placed in all town parks.

In June, the town won a $205,000 grant from Senator James Skoufis to upgrade its playground equipment at Chester Commons.

“I want them all to continue to be modernized,” Holdridge said.

In Chester, new projects approved by the planning board are required to pay $5,000 into the town’s parkland fund. Currently the fund has $38,000 in it, Holdridge said.

Chester receives annual community development block grants from Orange County to be used on projects that support individuals with low and moderate incomes and people with disabilities. These grants have been focused on Carpenter Park because it is the only property in the town that is eligible to receive grant monies under the rules of the program, Holdridge said.

The town won a $175,000 a community block grant in 2025 that will be used to upgrade the Carpenter Park bathrooms and make them ADA compliant. It is expected that work will begin on that project in 2027.

In 2026, the town applied for a community block grant to repave the parking lot at Carpenter Park and upgrade the lighting. The town is still waiting to hear back on whether that grant will be awarded. The town board applies on grant applications with its grant writers Millenium Strategies and town engineer John Queenan.