Later this month, Joe Shuttleworth will move from his deputy director position to director of Bridgeport Parks and Recreation. At the last meeting of Bridgeport City Council – held March 12 – Shuttleworth apprised Council of some future projects of his department.

 

One of the projects involves recently-purchased homes on lower Worthington Drive. Those properties will become part of the Bridgeport Pool complex, likely targeting a more user-friendly way to get in and out of the pool area.

 

“We’ll reconfigure the whole Civic Center area,” Shuttleworth said. “... There are always issues driving up to the entrance as it is so narrow. We’ll work on the flow so there aren’t so many kids crossing traffic.”

 

After some asbestos testing, the structures currently located on those Worthington Drive properties will likely be demolished at the same time as the old farm structures located on the Route 131 property, also recently purchased by the city. That property, located just across from the Recreation Complex entrance, will be utilized for storage and parking.

 

“Hopefully, there will be a maintenance building there for the parks department, which will be a great asset,” Shuttleworth said. “We’ll have a centralized operation, so our property won’t be scattered across the city. This will create a storage opportunity for us and take burdens off other departments to have to store our department’s things.”

 

The Route 131 property will also be used for overflow parking for large events, including cross-country meets.

 

“This will be another place people can park and we can shuttle them to the (recreation) complex,” Shuttleworth said.

 

“Next will be some meeting rooms, offices and floyer areas,” he said. “It’s on my agenda to take care of that hopefully this summer.”

 

Upgrades continue at the Benedum Civic Center. Currently, flooring upgrades are taking place.

 

Another upcoming project and one due to take place is the color coding of the city’s athletic courts. That is projected to be completed within the next year.

 

Editor's Note: Pictured above is Don Burton (left) who is retiring later this month and Joe Shuttleworth, taking over as director of the city's Parks and Recreation program. Read Don Burton's report, encompassing the department's projects over the past year, HERE.