SK Town Council
180 High Street
Wakefield, RI 02879

Town of South Kingstown Parks & Recreation
325 Columbia Street
Peace Dale, RI 02883

October 17, 2024

Members of the SK Town Council & Parks and Recreation:

We, the undersigned residents of South Kingstown and Saugatucket Park area, are writing to express our desire for the Town Council to expand Saugatucket Park by absorbing the abutting Wakefield Elementary School and its associated playground. 

The growing number of families in this community which include an extraordinary number of recent newborns, families and children that have moved here from out of state, and other existing locals, have come to love the park that is central to our town center.  The opportunity exists to create a playground that would rival those of Jamestown or Wickford and be the focal point for children and families for decades to come.  No where else does the opportunity exist to have such an accessible location – the connectivity of the bike path, sidewalks, walking trails, roads, neighborhoods and businesses, make Saugatucket Park the perfect location for a grand plan that benefits the taxpaying residents who use and transit this area so often.  The number of events throughout the year also require some place to park, and some place for children to play, a place to use restrooms, and these sometimes large events go year-round. 

Administratively, it would make the most sense to capitalize on the rare opportunity to grow and improve a park into a large area, of which the Town already possesses ownership.  There’s no need to purchase land - the Town can simply raze the school and allow transfer within the Town to Parks and Recreation.  They could then maintain the park and use their already existing budget and any existing private or public funding for Saugatucket Park to put in a new playground, landscape hills for sledding, parking for the expanded park use and Main Street area events, and new clean, safe public restrooms. 

Saugatucket Park’s location is central and integral to families that surround it, especially with High St. and Main St. being so welcoming via impeccable biking and walking paths allowing residents to enjoy all the local attractions with ease.  This area needs an exciting new playground that is walkable for the large number of eager families that can easily access it thanks to the well-designed connectivity throughout the local community.

Although we support affordable housing, there are more suitable locations throughout South Kingstown, and the housing would be a benefit only for those who reside in that property, as opposed to all residents of the area.  With housing replacing the school, we as residents, and you the Town, will lose this pristine location forever, and will never be able to get it back.  Conversely, this is an area that is already owned by the town, established as a beloved park, and we hope that the Town Council decides to allow the school and playground property to be absorbed into Saugatucket Park, to instead be a once in a lifetime opportunity to benefit all residents of South Kingstown. 

Respectfully,

The following undersigned supporters: