Harvard received some good news this week in the form of a $1 million grant from the state’s Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant Program to help pay for the reconstruction of McCurdy Track. The project, estimated to cost $2.6 million, was approved by 2025 Annual Town Meeting last May.
The town voted to allocate $600,000 from fiscal 2026 community preservation funds as a down payment for the project. The vote included a commitment from the Community Preservation Committee to make annual payments on a borrowing that will fund the remainder of the project. This grant will reimburse the town for $1 million of that borrowing.
The track reconstruction project also includes rebuilding the field inside the track with new drainage channels, restoring the field events area, installing amphitheater-type spectator seating, and constructing stairs to the lower field events area. The track will also be made to conform with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a new walking path will connect the Harvard Senior Center to Harvard Park.
Grants from the LWCF, managed by the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, provide up to 50% of the cost of municipal projects to acquire, develop, or renovate parks, trails, and conservation areas. This year, only seven other cities and towns received the grants: Groton, Boston, Worcester, Westfield, Newburyport, Haverhill, and Easthampton. Four of them (Harvard, Groton, Boston, and Worcester) each received the largest amount awarded this year, $1 million.
Grant funding comes from state sources as well as the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Recreation Director Anne McWaters told the Press she had received preliminary approval from the state, but federal approval from the National Park Service was still required. Given recent cuts to federal programs, she said she wasn’t too optimistic, and she was surprised when she heard of the award.
“I’m thrilled and so pleased that we won’t have to use all that we requested from CPC last spring to develop Harvard Park,” McWaters said. “I firmly believe in doing as much as we can to lessen the burden to taxpayers in Harvard while also still being able to augment and better our facilities.”
