Greenfield firemen put out hot spots within the shelter house at Greenfield’s Riley Park on Dec. 28, 2022, when a fire broke out and destroyed the historic structure. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — The sad news became official this week when the historic Riley Park shelter house, ravaged by fire Dec. 28, was declared a total loss.
It took nearly four months for a series of studies to officially come to the conclusion after surveying the charred remains of the structure that had served the community for nearly 85 years.
Greenfield’s city attorney, Gregg Morelock, shared the news at the Board of Works meeting Tuesday, April 25.
“The goal was to try to save and reuse the stone and brick, but the structural engineer that was retained through our insurance carrier has now done the analysis and unfortunately that’s not going to be possible,” he said.
“The structural integrity of those walls has been so compromised…that the whole structure needs to be rebuilt, but (the parks director and mayor) have a plan to save as much of that stone and brick and use it in some other way,” he said, much like the stone arches from the former Greenfield High School were repurposed into the school district’s administration building following a devastating fire.
Josh Gentry, maintenance operations manager for the Greenfield Parks Department, said fire officials were unable to determine the exact cause of the shelter house blaze.
“They believed it to be electrical in origin, but the cause was undetermined,” he said, which was verified by Greenfield Fire Marshal Steve Kropacek.
The shelter house was unoccupied at the time the fire broke out just before 9 a.m. on a partly cloudy Wednesday in late December. Local fire crews spent roughly 40 minutes extinguishing the blaze, driven in part by high winds.
As the community mourned what appeared to be a total loss of such a beloved structure, parks staff scrambled to reach out to the numerous groups and individuals who had booked the facility nearly every weekend through August 2023.
Parks board president Deby Low, who has lived all her life in Greenfield, has visited the shelter house countless times throughout the years.
“I’ve done everything from graduation parties to celebrations of life there. I’ve been to countless meetings and done yoga there,” she said.
The shelter house has served as an iconic part of the parks and the greater Greenfield community since it was built in 1937. It started out as an open-air pavilion and was later enclosed, with a number of renovations taking place throughout the years.
The wood and stone facade was part of the shelter’s woodsy, cabin-like appeal.
All that remained after the fire was the stone wall around the perimeter, some charred beams and a sunken roof, which was soon removed for safety reasons.
“I hope we can reuse the stone or rebuild it to make it look similar,” said Low.
Parks officials are contemplating what to do with the salvaged stone. Gentry said it might be used in some type of commemorative display or incorporated into the new structure, which will be rebuilt within the footprint of the former building.
It’s not yet determined when construction of the new shelter will begin, but Mayor Chuck Fewell said the new building will pay tribute to the historic shelter house while providing a new-and-improved space for the community.
Gentry said the parks department is now soliciting bids for demolition, and will soon come up with a design for a new structure that will feature an enhanced kitchen and more bathrooms than before.
“We’re all definitely sad that the old building is gone, but we hope to bring back the shelter house with a design that hearkens back to the historic structure,” he said. “We’re just looking toward the future.”
