Plans in motion for new park, Greenway trailhead
ANACONDA — Overgrown grass brushes against the weathered playground of a ghostly former school in Opportunity.
Lifeless and vacant since 1981, Beaver Dam School is a crumbling relic of smelter days, cubed in off Rickards Street, North Hauser Street and North Norris Avenue. Most recently, it is a bull’s-eye for vandals.
But rebirth is coming is in the vision of permanent recess. County plans to convert the 9.52-acre space into a park and Greenway trailhead are in motion after buying the land late last year from School District 10.
Commissioners approved going out for bid at their Oct. 5 meeting, and planning director Connie Ternes-Daniels said work should be done by next year.
“It’s been a long, arduous and challenging path to get there, but I feel we’re finally there,” Ternes-Daniels said. “This is going to be a huge asset for Opportunity.”
Residents have long wanted a park at the Beaver Dam site, she said. Possibility became reality in 2005 when U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., secured a federal $5 million appropriation to Missoula and Anaconda-Deer Lodge counties affected by the Milltown Dam removal project.
Anaconda received a little more than $2 million of that money, in consideration of the three million tons of contaminated soil hauled by train to the nearby Atlantic Richfield tailings ponds.
TOP PRIORITY
The commission in 2005 passed a resolution supporting Beaver Dam Park as the top priority of the appropriation, designated for transportation enhancements and including parks.
Estimates come to about $1.3 million for the park, Ternes-Daniels said, which will feature a picnic area, new playground equipment, walking trail around the perimeter and access to the Greenway trail.
“We really want this to be Opportunity’s park,” she said. “They’ve been very patient.”
The historic Beaver Dam School building will also remain standing and mothballed, except for the south side addition put on sometime in the 1950s, to be secured by an eight-foot fence.
Workers will remove asbestos from the school, Ternes-Daniels said, but complete renovations would add another $800,000 to the project cost.
“The public overwhelmingly stated they wanted a park more than they wanted to fix the building,” she said.
Engineering design evolved over a series of meetings with Opportunity residents last year at the Community Club, to discuss what they wanted to see at their park.
The county hired WWC Engineering, of Helena, and project manager Shawn Higley said the meetings regularly drew between 20 and 30 people.
“It was pretty compelling,” Higley said. “There really was no negativity toward the construction of a park.”
Beaver Dam Park will provide a green-grass focal point for community and social gatherings, Higley said. It will also make the area more attractive.
“The old school property was pretty run-down,” he said. “Aesthetically, this will clean up the area a great amount.”
BIDS ARE DUE
Construction bids are due by Nov. 8, and the contract calls for 150 working days to finish the job.
Work will likely begin next season, though Higley said they may push the contractor to start securing the Beaver Dam School a bit earlier in the winter, depending on the weather.
District 4 Commissioner Robert Pierce said he is adamant about Beaver Dam Park, especially considering the kids of Opportunity.
Kids wanting a trip to the park have had to travel into town, Pierce said. Now, they will have a place of their own.
“That area hasn’t had anything for kids since it started, really,” he said. “(The park) is going to be a great shot in the arm for the local community.”
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County planning director Connie Ternes-Daniels and Commissioner Robert Pierce review plans for Beaver Dam Park at the site recently. The park is expected to be finished by next year. The historic Beaver Dam School, vacant since 1981, is in the background.
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