CARIBOU, Maine — In addition to the continued construction of a new pre-K to eighth-grade school, residents of Caribou will soon see crews back to work on a brand new public park on Bennett Drive.
The construction of the new Teague Park will resume next week and will likely be completed in early fall 2020, Gary Marquis, director of Caribou Parks and Recreation, announced. Crew members from the Caribou-based Soderberg Construction ended their most recent work on the project in November 2019 before the winter season.
Thus far a park building has been constructed as well as pavement for the basketball and tennis courts and lighting for those areas. While crew members installed the turf for the softball field last October, they still need to complete work on the outfield and infield.
Additional landscaping and the installation of fencing will be finished during the last months of construction.
“We expect the playground equipment to be installed this summer,” Marquis said.
During the winter months, the Parks and Recreation department will turn the basketball court into an ice rink for skating.
The Maine DOE is covering the costs of the park construction due to the new Caribou Community School being built on grounds that formerly contained a park, per an agreement between the Maine Department of Education and RSU 39.
The splash pad is the only component of the new park that will be spent using local tax dollars because the splash pad has been in development since 2014 and was delayed because of efforts to approve the building of the new school, Marquis said.
The Parks and Recreation Department is working with Vortex Splashpad — the same company that designed Presque Isle’s splash pad on Riverside Drive — and hopes to complete construction by fall. The splash pad will not be ready for public use until summer 2021.
“We’re still waiting for the final design. After it’s approved we will put the project out for bid,” Marquis said.
Though Teague Park is located across the street from Caribou Community School, children will have access to their own playground during school hours to avoid crossing the high-traffic street.
Marquis hopes that the Parks and Recreation Department can host an event commemorating the opening of Teague Park this fall, assuming that social distancing restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted.
“All of us are very excited to see kids playing in the park and people using the courts and softball field,” Marquis said. “It’s a long overdue project.”
