Medford slated for $2.4 million in park renovations across 26 projects
Medford is spending $2.4 million to refurbish parks and open spaces across the city.
By Crystal Yormick
Medford is spending $2.4 million to refurbish parks and open spaces across the city.
The projects range from planting trees, renovating a concession stand and constructing a natural play area to performing an archaeological dig and making accessibility improvements.
The money comes from a variety of sources including federal and state earmarks, Community Preservation Act funds and Community Development Block Grants. Some projects are slated to be done this year, while others don’t yet have a set completion date.
Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said the city is trying to focus on every area, park and open space in Medford. She said the city has been able to complete hundreds of projects, which included refurbishing basketball and tennis courts, redoing pool decks and installing accessible picnic tables. These projects happened across the city from Tufts Pool and Wright’s Pond to Carr Park.
“It’s extremely important to invest in these improvements to ensure that spaces remain accessible, engaging and vibrant for all,” Lungo-Koehn said.
The city generally maintains tree coverage in renovated areas or plants trees if they are removed during projects, said Amanda Bowen, co-chair of TreesMedford, a volunteer-run nonprofit dedicated to increasing and protecting the city’s tree canopy. But while the city carries out these plantings, it also struggles with the trees’ upkeep because of staff shortages.
Bowen said she thinks these projects are becoming more frequent because the city has been planning more and receiving funding.
“The city is getting grants on a regular basis to renovate parks,” Bowen said. “It’s really good, and I think it makes every resident really happy to see a sort of spiffy new park.”
Lungo-Koehn said the city keeps a running list of needs at parks and then picks “one project at a time.”
“We are really trying to focus on every park in Medford, one way or another,” she said.
Other projects involve playgrounds.
Resident Chenine Peloquin — who owns the Playful Pelican, a child-centered design and accessibility consulting company — said tailoring to residents’ different needs is an important part of playground development.
“Not every playground can be everything to everyone,” Peloquin said. “And so how do we as a community plan for a variety of types of spaces, so that everyone has meaningful choices of places to play no matter their ability?”
She said this variety should include some fenced and unfenced playgrounds, ones with challenging play areas and smaller baby playgrounds. All playgrounds are required to meet ADA requirements.
However, play spaces with high play value and inclusive design require more space, Peloquin said. So bigger sites closer to public transportation can be an ideal place for these more inclusive sites, she said.
Two projects — a basketball court resurfacing at Capen Park and the ADA improvements to the LoConte Ice Rink bathrooms — are complete. Others have begun, while some are in the planning or preparation process. There are also other potential projects in the works that are dependent on grant funding.
Bowen said past renovations at other parks have changed the way the neighborhoods use the space.
“Parks are really wonderful, and we have a lot of them,” she said. “So hopefully they’ll be really well maintained in the future.”
Crystal Yormick is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between Gotta Know Medford and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
