An environmental bond bill that included $6.3 million for the renovation of Connors Memorial Pool was passed by the Legislature as it wrapped up on the Hill late Thursday night.
The state shut down the pool, which is at the corner of Newton and River streets, more than six years ago due to a lack of money for badly needed repairs.
Since then, neighborhood advocates, city officials and state legislators have fought to get the pool reopened.
"That’s the one we’ve been working on a long time," state Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, said of the effort to get the funding for the pool’s reconstruction.
She said Waltham residents deserved to have "this jewel in the city restored to it’s natural glory."
Fargo said with the $6.3 million, the Department of Conservation should have the money it needs to rebuild the pool and bath house on the site.
"This isn’t the first bite of the apple, this is the entire apple," Fargo said.
The bond bill also included $250,000 for improvements to Prospect Hill Park and $100,000 for maintenance and improvements at Hardy Pond.
A transportation bond bill that was also passed by the Legislature included $1.5 million for design and roadway construction, a traffic signal and other improvements to the intersection of Trapelo Road and Forest Street.
State Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham, said in June that the intersection was considered "the number one priority intersection" in the city for upgrades. That bill also includes another $500,000 for work on Waltham’s portion of the Wayside Rail Trail, and $50,000 to study parking conditions in downtown Waltham.
The House approved a host of budget veto overrides before the session wrapped up, which were agreed to by the Senate, that restored $56.4 million out of the $122.4 million cut by Gov. Deval Patrick.
State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, said among the cuts put back into the budget were more than $450,000 for Waltham and Newton programs. Included in that batch was $100,000 for the Waltham
Tourism Council, $155,000 to fund programs at the Newton Community Service Center, $100,000 for invasive weed control along the Charles River and $50,000 for job training at More Than Words, a youth-run bookstore on Moody Street.
Also put back into the budget was $50,000 for improvements at the West Suburban YMCA in Newton.
"Newton, Watertown and Waltham did extremely well as far as preservation of money from the original budget," Koutoujian said.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
WALTHAM —
