February 13, 2025
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Hearing speakers favor Pinnacle Park grant

PITTSFIELD – With only three councilors present Tuesday night, no business could be formally enacted or voted on without a quorum. But a public hearing on a grant to enhance the Pinnacle Ski Slope into a four-season recreational area drew several people and favorable comments by all.

“This project will not only benefit the ski club,” Pinnacle President Jennifer Siter said. “It will benefit the entire community.”

“When I was a kid, the Pinnacle was the hub of the town,” Mayor Tim Nichols said. “This grant will provide a real good chance for us to restore and expand it.”

The 17-acre parcel now contains the remnants of an ice rink, several ski slopes and a clubhouse, a washed-out boat launch and walking trails that dead end and “go nowhere,” Siter said.

The grant, which is being sought through the state’s Riverfront Community Development Bond Program, would help fund nearly $100,000 in improvements. Those improvements would include an ice skating rink, a skateboard park, a new boat launch, rehabilitation of the parking lot, continued development of a trail system, and restoration of the outdoor habitat in key areas for educational field trips, bird-watching, fishing and sightseeing.

Town Manager Kathryn Ruth said the grant would also be used to construct two bird-watching lean-tos, to build steps and platforms in scenic areas and to install interpretive nature signs.

Councilor Gary Jordan, also a Pinnacle volunteer, said the ski slope draws a large number of members from outside Pittsfield and that a four-season facility could build on that.

Councilor Donna Chale said that not only has she personally enjoyed the site, but she is the co-founder of the Warsaw Middle School Outing Club which has used the facility for educational purposes. “This grant would allow more access for the students,” she said.

The Pinnacle project is the fifth park rehabilitated along the Sebasticook River as part of a master plan developed in the early 1960s and promoted in the town’s comprehensive plan in 1970.

“Having a ski slope is unique,” Ruth said. “However, having a ski slope, skating and skateboarding, multiuse trails, public access to the Sebasticook River with sensational views, fishing and wildlife at one facility will be phenomenal.”

The project is a cooperative effort between the Pinnacle Park Board, the Pinnacle Ski Club, and the Sebasticook River Watershed Association.

Ruth will be submitting an application for the grant this week. She said the total project budget is $96,603 and the grant would provide $32,201. More than $64,402 has been pledged from a variety of sources. “Amazing resources came together for the town’s match,” Ruth said.

Ruth said the funds would come from the Pinnacle Fund, skateboard park donations, in-kind commitments from the Public Works Department, Pinnacle Ski Club and the Sebasticook River Watershed Association. She said this grant also allows the town to use the value of that part of the Pinnacle land owned by the community as a cash commitment.

The Pinnacle land is partly owned by Maine Central Institute and partly owned by the town. Pittsfield has a 75-year lease on the MCI section.

Ruth said if the town obtains the necessary grant funding, the project can be completed by August 2009.

bdnpittsfield@verizon.net

487-3187


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