Niagara County looking into improvements for Clyde L. Burmaster Park

By Benjamin Joe

Plans to install a playground within Clyde L. Burmaster Park in the Town of Lewiston continue, as the Niagara County Legislature gets ready to vote at its May 6 meeting on whether to increase funding for the project.

At its last meeting in April, the legislature voted to apply for a grant for the estimated cost of $675,000 for the second phase of the playground project, which will incorporate natural features into the playground and include elements for children with special needs.

According to an agenda notice for the next meeting in May, legislators will vote to carry the cost of the grant application, which is $9,000, making the total design costs approximately $110,000.

The contractor for the plans is Fisher Associates of Buffalo. The original projected amount for the project estimated in October of 2023 was $26,000, but rose throughout 2024. Funding for improvements at Burmaster, Krull and Oppenheim parks largely comes from American Rescue Plan Act funds during 2024, said 14^th District Legislator Shawn Foti, chair of the infrastructure committee.

“Burmaster, which is a natural playground, is currently under construction. Krull has a new playground, pickleball court and rehabbed tennis courts, and Oppenheim has pickleball, tennis courts, basketball courts and paving,” Foti said. “So, there were multiple projects that were decided upon based on the funding source of (American) Rescue Funds. Everything currently under construction is funded, and then the grant’s applications is for a second phase of Burmaster – if we receive it.”

Burmaster Park is a Conservation and Preservation park, according to April’s resolution, and is located on the grounds of an old stone quarry. It is named after deceased First District Legislator Clyde Burmaster. His successor is Legislator Irene Myers.

“We’re pretty excited about it, because we’re going to add a few things in the park to increase the recreational activities,” Myers said.

“The facility will focus on conservational nature of the parks because of the location. We’re going to focus on the natural elements like wood and rock as opposed to plastic. We’re going to focus on a natural park. Phase one will include a tunnel, a climbing wall, slides and areas for playing.”

Myers noted the park is not near a busy road, and many aspects of the site formerly known solely as Bond Lake Park are a good fit for families and individuals to recreate. These include trails and the playground. She also noted plans were being made for the park to host a disc golf tournament in 2026.

Foti said more construction will be seen in the coming weeks and will be centered on a hill on the west end of the park that the natural playground will be built into.

“The playground is incorporated into the hill,” Foti said. “The slides are built into the hill. It’s using the natural contours of that part to create a playground.”