NORWAY — A pole barn to cover some picnic tables in Lake Pennesseewassee Park will be constructed this fall, Recreation Director Deb Partridge said.

“This added feature will be used by groups of all ages,” she said.

The project is expected to go to bid this summer, and the goal is to build the barn between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1, she said. It will be paid for with money from trees harvested to thin the park several years ago.

The park has two beaches, a sand volleyball court, a full-size basketball court, two playgrounds, a fitness trail, a boat landing and picnic tables and benches throughout.

Partridge said use of the park has grown tremendously since the town took ownership of it from the state.

“Part of the agreement between the state and town when ownership was transferred was that the park remain open to all people regardless” of where they live, she said. “I would estimate the numbers to be equal from Norway and Paris with maybe 15 percent from other towns.”

Paris is the only town bordering Norway that does not have access to a lake or pond, and the other towns restrict their water bodies to residents only, Partridge said.

There are at least 250 to 300 children from area day care centers and Roberts Farm Preserve using the park weekdays, and easily 100 people on the beaches at any given time, she said. That doesn’t include those using the playground, basketball and volleyball courts, she said.

Partridge said another indicator of the increasing number of park visitors is the bathrooms.

“When I first came here, the restroom at the boat landing, which has a 1,000-gallon tank, was pumped out once every three years, and two portable toilets were rented for inside the park,” Partridge said. “Today, the restroom at the boat landing needs to be pumped out once a year.”

The park off Route 118 is on the southwestern corner of the 5-mile-long lake.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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