Watertown officials may seek to lease the Dealtry Pool and Cannalonga Park and increase the staffing and improve maintenance of the facilities along the Charles River.
During a visit to the City Council by Watertown’s House members on May 26, State Rep. John Lawn raised the possibility that the City of Watertown may be able to work out an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to lease the Dealtry Pool and Cannalonga Park.
The pool is located near the Watertown Dam off Pleasant Street and has a swimming pool, a wading pool and locker rooms. Cannalogna Park has a parking lot near the Riverworks building, and has tennis courts that have become a popular spot for pickleball, a pavilion, and an area of trees and natural landscape. The DCR had a listening session about the park in 2022.
Lawn said he had broached the idea with some members of the City Council, as well as State Rep. Steve Owens and State Sen. Will Brownsberger.
“The Watertown Dealtry Pool is really a great asset that the State really has not been able to maintain or run for many years,” Lawn said. “And if the Council was ever interested in that — and I’ve had some discussions with DCR — that may be something that could be a real asset for the town to do a lease, a long-term lease, if that’s something that the community wanted to do.”
City Council President Mark Siders said that he met Lawn and District D Councilor Emily Izzo at the Cannalonga Park, a DCR Park off Pleasant Street, next to John A. Ryan Arena.
“We’ve been in discussions with DCR management. We’ve done whatever they asked. What else can we do? Is it possible?” Sideris said. “And, maybe the (City) Manager (George Proakis) won’t agree, but I think the Recreation Department, and maybe even the School Department, would be happy to have a pool. What if we combined the two and said we’ll take the two of them over with a memorandum of understanding, just like we do with the rink.”
Lawn said the State may be interested.
“As you know, DCR has been long underfunded. The budget is really strained, and I think the state would welcome any assistance and partnership,” Lawn said. “So, we could absolutely really pursue that seriously. If the City Council would like that, we will certainly work on that together with you and set up meetings to do that.”
Sideris said he would consider putting an item on the City Council’s agenda if that helps.
“If you need us to put an item on the agenda, we can do that … expressing interest,” Sideris said. “I don’t know if it will pass or not, but I do think if that’s what you need, that’s a start from our end. I have no problem doing that.”