Charlestown receives bid for teen hangout area
May 17—CHARLESTOWN — The City of Charlestown opened bids Wednesday for its new teen hangout expansion for the Family Activities Park.
Bids for the project were sent out to five different companies, with only one response. It came from Dan Christiani Excavation with the amount of $231,569.
The Charlestown Board of Public Works chose to put the bid under review and will vote on it at a later time. The project is anticipated to open by Labor Day weekend.
"This project is an exciting addition to our Family Activities Park and is the result of a multi-year planning and implementation initiative to enhance our Parks offerings," said Charlestown Mayor Treva Hodges.
The project is intended to address a lack of teen hangout areas in the city, which is a problem officials pointed out when preparing Charlestown's park master plan in 2021.
By holding community sessions and going to the Charlestown High School to get input from Charlestown teenagers, the city was inspired to create The Depot Hangout.
It's slated to include outdoor game areas, hangout spaces and Wi-Fi access.
From there, the city worked on getting renderings out to show to the high schoolers, and then sent the design out for bids.
"We're excited to work with Dan Christiani to get final approval on this construction plan and break ground on this space," Hodges said. "It will include lawn space for games such as corn hole and table tennis, gazebos for gathering with televisions to catch games or for playing video games, a smoothie and coffee bar with bistro seating, and a stage area for bands, shows, or movie screenings."
The hangout area was designed with accessibility in mind so all the teens in the city can use the area with their friends.
"This project epitomizes the way we practice development and growth in the City of Charlestown," Hodges said. "It was inspired and led by community feedback and I'm particularly pleased with the active involvement of the students from Charlestown High School."
