With one Roslindale playground rebuilt, work could begin this spring to rebuild another

What ever happened to that cool Playform structure (that was once on City Hall Plaza) that was supposed to be moved to the Pagel Field on Hyde Park Ave.?

I serve on the non-profit, community-based, fiscal board at the Flaherty Pool.

It's worth noting and understanding that two city entities have jurisdictional interests there. The children's play area is under Parks & Rec. The pool itself and an easement around it is under the Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF). While it is all the city of Boston, these are distinct and separate departments with their own processes, property management staff, etc.

When the pool was rebuilt in 2012, new utility lines were installed to increase capacity. Those lines run down the middle of the driveway - mostly. However, one corner of the play area does have some lines that skirt through to the driveway. There is a new utility pole there that supplies new electricals from the street, telephone, Internet, etc. This is mostly outside of the current fence. I have pictures as I took a number of historical photos for future needs.

The gas meter for the pool is at the rear of the building (side facing Fawndale Apts) and was not a part of the utility relocation as far as I know - I could be wrong. If so the gas line could be one of the concerns. Dig Safe would know of course.

Not spoken of here, but well-known and established, is that there is a storm drain that passes directly under the play area. This information was considered when the pool was rebuilt. I provided diagrams of past-published plot plans showing storm drains that Boston Water & Sewer did not have on their engineering maps (thanks to the late Walter Michalik), as well as historical city maps also known as the "Bromley Maps" now under the ownership of Wardmaps.Com.

An above-ground stream ran "behind" the pool between the pool building and the Fawndale Apartments and was an above-ground stream well into the World War I era. It was later depressed underground.

The pool's main drain system in fact ties in to this conduit behind the pool structure.

The conduit runs under the play area, then runs southerly under a part of Florence Street, then runs westerly behind the homes on Firth Road, essentially running through the back yards between Firth and Bexley. It then turns southerly again and connects to something else near the Sumner School. Maps available are not very clear on this part. People have been refused building permits for small structures at the rear of homes on Firth and Bexley, in part, due to this.

People who know the area will easily see and note that the land between the pool and Fawndale Apts has a depression in it. That is because of the storm drain, its age, settling of the land (and shifting) and leaks especially considering its age.

While the water feature is desirable by many families, concerns have been raised by some, and apparently not fully embraced, regarding the water table and conduit system. It seems the engineers are not concerned but many pool users are. The building has seen foundation shifts over its lifespan and the most-recent rebuild saw 33 pilings drilled in to help stabilize it in place. Only time will tell if this is truly successful or if the storm drain and its leaks will result in more damage. So any additional water added to that area that is not properly drained could be an issue.

It is worth noting that this is greatly a Roslindale-centric project with a lot of family input by Roslindale families. All well and fine but few if any of the pool users, many of whom travel to that pool from other parts of the facility due to its access and programing features, are aware. Efforts at outreach have been mostly Roslindale-centric and while a few flyers did make their way to the pool, it remains an unknown project to a majority.

It is also worth noting that none of the city staff that work at the pool have any clue regarding the design and schedule. It is a separate department. While the central office may get informational updates occasionally from the Parks & Rec people, the staff at the pool, those who are immediately next door to where the construction will take place, do not have any details. Indeed they get most of it from me or from the local newspapers or by pool users who take the time to engage them in conversation. It seems this is handled on a "need to know" basis, and clearly the prevailing wisdom is that they don't need to know.

So please understand when they say they don't know, they are not being rude... they truly do not know.

Also not addressed in the plans is an expansion of the parking lot. It seems that Parks & Rec won't give up any footage for that, and there is a state statute that apparently prevents them from doing that even if they want to. The Flaherty is used greatly due to its water exercise programs, laps swim hours, senior time, family time, and children's competitive swim teams, throughout the day and night and on any given day that lot is full or at least 3/4 full. With more families driving to the play area - and people will; let's face it - parking can and will become an issue, and there will be no winners, especially if play area users are pitted against pool users. Add to that there are actually neighbors that sometimes park there while not using either, makes it more difficult. And in the warmer months ball field families will also be using it as they have for years and years while they watch the games and picnic out.

For the record I think its a great idea the play area is getting a rebuild and will address the needs for play areas. That said, I am still of the opinion that not all concerns have been full vetted for all of the interests that will use that play area or be impacted as an adjacent user.

It's also worth noting a community garden is also planned for the area next to the basketball court. That too, will also bring more usage to the area - and parking lot.

None of these usages and plans are being fully coordinated among the varying user groups so that everyone is on the same page. I state that based on my dialogues with people I see there on a regular basis, not the responses that is fed to me by the city, as nice as they are at times, nor the proponents of any of the planned usages. You'd be surprised about how few people in that area know nothing about any of these things, or one knowing about the other.

By best wishes that all is worked out.