LANESBOROUGH, Mass. —The Senior Park Committee, now the Age Friendly Park Committee, is making progress with a plan that supports recreation for all stages of life.

The panel has over $30,000 secured for the project at the underutilized Bridge Street Park which is estimated to cost as much as $250,000 to build.  Elements include pickle ball, shuffleboard, bocce, and a "shezebo."

"(The park) really just got forgotten about and abandoned and I looked at it and looked at it and looked at it and said it shouldn't be abandoned. Our senior population is increasing, we're getting older," Chair Linda Pruyne said.

"My whole concept behind this age-friendly park is that when we were kids and we didn't have jobs and responsibilities, we'd go to the park and hang out with friends, and now we're retired, don't have jobs, we should go back and hang out in the park with our friends."

The effort has secured $15,000 in free cash during the last annual town meeting, $15,000 from the New England Rural Health Association with the help of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and $1,000 in private donations.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will start a complete replacement of the bridge over the Town Brook next year.  Some of the park will be used as a staging area before the improvements are made but committee members want to establish it as a place to gather so that it is well known once the project is completed.

A design made by William Cook includes a variation of game courts, seating, a walking path, and maintains the baseball field.  Pruyne came up with the idea for a "shezebo," which is an all-season combination of a "she shed" and a gazebo.

While they have estimates for a couple of elements, there is not a price set on the full project just yet.