Restoration projects at the East Wareham School and Town Hall. Conservation along the Weweantic River Corridor. A rebuild of Lopes Playground. An expanded community garden at Damien's Food Pantry.

Voters at the Oct. 28 Town Meeting, voters will be to approve more than $1.5 million in Community Preservation funds for five projects.

The money comes from a surtax on property values above $100,000 and, under the terms of the state’s Community Preservation Act, must be spent on historic preservation, open space preservation, recreation and affordable housing. Approval of Community Preservation projects does not affect the town’s tax rate.

Here’s a look at what has been recommended by the town’s Community Preservation Committee for consideration this fall:

Lopes Playground reconstruction: The unique yet outdated playground in Onset would receive a total makeover if approved at Town Meeting. The current wooden structure would be replaced by a new, more accessible playground and walking path.

To help cover the $750,000 bill on the Town Meeting agenda, the town received a state grant of $100,000 for construction of a new accessible walkway around the playground.

This is a reimbursement grant and is the first that Wareham has received through the state’s Parkland Acquisitions and Renovation for Communities (PARC) program as explained by Select Board Chair Judith Whiteside. With a reimbursement grant, “We have to spend the money up front and then we show the state we've spent the money, what we've spent it on and then we get the money back."

Earlier in the summer, the wooden bridge at the playground broke and, while municipal maintenance fixed it quickly, this raised concerns regarding the safety of the structure.

"Wooden structures are no longer considered safe," said Community Preservation Committee Chair Patrick Lester. "There are some noncompliant aspects to the wooden structure that make it non-handicap accessible."

Town Hall windows: Town Hall, a historic building dating back to 1939, is in need of window restoration. Town Meeting will be asked for $80,000 to allow to bring in a private contractor to evaluate the conditions of the windows.

Lester explained many of the windows in need of restoration are originals. The windows are in need of "tightening" for heating and cooling purposes, he said, renovations that would save money over the long term.

East Wareham Elementary School: When the South Shore Community Action Council purchased the East Wareham Elementary School in 2022, it did so with the intention of renovating the 1920s building into a home for its Head Start Pre-K program.

The Council is asking for $400,000 to renovate the building’s exterior in a way the preserves the building’s historic appearance. Such repairs would include replacing the existing shingles with fresh white cedar shingles.

Damien's Food Pantry Community Gardens: Damien's Food Pantry is looking for $33,800 to expand its existing community garden with the installation of 20 new raised beds, a new irrigation line and permanent fencing around the entire community garden.

This past spring, the food pantry constructed 33 raised beds on land adjacent to its new Marion Road (Route 6) facility. Damien's Place board member Nick Decas noted that all of the existing 5-by-10-foot beds are being gardened and there is interest for more beds next year.

Weweantic River Corridor: As part of a larger land conservation project, the Buzzards Bay Coalition is seeking $375,000 from the Community Preservation Fund to help purchase over 200 acres of land in Wareham as part of a larger $5.8 million project to preserve 730 acres of land across Carver and Wareham.

The Coalition is looking to preserve the land currently owned by the Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry Company as open space but at least one cranberry bog would still be maintained for commercial cranberry growing. Lester explained that the Coalition is seeking the money from the Community Preservation Fund to show "other granting organizations" that the Coalition is supported by its local communities, and that Wareham’s contribution would help the Coalition secure more funding.

Town meeting will be held Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Wareham High School auditorium. All registered voters are eligible to attend, participate and vote.