By Gail Geraghty,Staff Writer

OXFORD – Work will begin this spring to develop outdoor recreation uses on the site of the town’s former fire station in Oxford Village.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snow and Susan Collins announced last week that Oxford has been awarded $22,500 for development of the property around the former fire station on King Street, now known as the Oxford Community Center Complex.

Voters agreed at last year’s town meeting to match the grant funds from the state’s Land and Water Conservation Fund dollar for dollar, Recreation Committee member Lois Pike said Monday.

The contract calls for the town to pay for the work up front, and then submit to the fund for a 50 percent reimbursement of costs, up to $22,500. A total of about $45,000, therefore, will be spent on the work, with the state picking up half, and town taxpayers the other half, Pike said.

Taxpayers at town meeting approved a maximum of $50,000 in spending, based on the town’s request of $25,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Pike said the competition for funding dollars was intense, and so the grant award was reduced.

The money can only be used for improvement of the outside grounds, she said. It’s likely that the bulk of the money will be spent on preliminary ground improvements such as grading. Plans on file call for the eventual development of tennis courts, horseshoe pits, an ice rink and playing fields, she said.

Pike said development of the outdoor recreation uses will occur over the course of several years, as time and money allows. “Just look at how long it took to get Pismo Beach going – 20 years,” she said.