NORTH STREET VETERANS PLAYGROUND RENOVATIONS BREAK GROUND THIS WEEK

Once
completed in early summer 2014, North Street Veterans Playground in West
Somerville will feature a multi-sport game court that can be used for
basketball, street hockey, tennis or soccer. New entrances and pathways will
lead visitors to a water spray feature and two play areas with rubber safety
surfacing for children ages 2-5 and ages 5-12, featuring play structures,
swings and slides as well as a giant climbing structure with rope ladders,
bridges and a tube slide. Hills with trees at the parks edges will create a
natural buffer and sense of green space. , Enhanced lighting, including
attractive entrance columns lit from within, as well as the addition of video
cameras, will improve the park's safety and security and make it an inviting
space in the early evening hours. Café-style seating under shade trees will
offer comfortable space to relax as well.

"Parks
are the living room of a greater community, where neighbors can relax, meet and
enjoy a respite from the hustle and bustle of daily life," Mayor Joseph A.
Curtatone said. "This West Somerville neighborhood is getting the park it
deserves, inviting residents out of their homes and into the community. The
City has renovated or built more than 25 parks and open spaces in the last
seven years, because spaces like this aren't only social infrastructure but
economic infrastructure that encourages private investment and business
development. There's nothing more encouraging than seeing a vibrant, active
city with parks and streets filled with people."

"The community has been collaborating with the City for
years on the renovation of North Street Veterans Playround, with neighbors
offering important insight and ideas for remaking this park into a true oasis
in Ward 7," said Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane. "I can't wait for ribbon cutting
day next year when we can invite the whole community in to reap the rewards of
their feedback and support, turning the park into a common area that everyone
in the neighborhood can be proud of and enjoy, no matter their age."

The new
North Street Veterans Playground will also be 100 percent accessible and will increase
in size by one half, thanks to a 4,500 square foot expansion that incorporates
an easement from the Somerville Housing
Authority on the north
end of the park. Designs for the park were chosen after several community
meetings. Thanks for the final vision of the park go out to the residents of
Ward 7, Groundwork
Somerville and the Urban
Family Outreach Squad,
the Wayside Youth and Family
Support Network, the
Somerville Housing Authority and the Somerville Police Department.

The
renovation of North Street Veterans Playground is paid for with the combination
of a $400,000 PARC
(Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities) grant from the Commonwealth,
federal Community
Development Block Grant
funds and $315,000 in City bond funding approved by the Board of Aldermen in
January. A similar $500,000 PARC grant was used to partially fund the new
Chuckie Harris Park
that opened in East Somerville last month.

"We
want to create a park that the community can take pride in and that will serve
as a focal point for the neighborhood," said Arn Franzen, Director of Parks and
Open Space for the City of Somerville. "Feedback from the community has been
vital in shaping the vision for North Street Veterans Playground. I look
forward to that vision becoming a reality over the next several months and
bringing with it a better quality of life for residents in the neighborhood."

Weston & Sampson Engineers Boston's landscape
design studio, SPURR, created the design for the park. Cheri Ruane of Weston
& Sampson is the landscape architect and Sequoia Construction of Whitman, MA, is the general
contractor for the project.

North Street Veterans Playground will remain closed to the public during the construction period. Residents seeking information about the renovation or other nearby recreation sources should contact the Parks and Open Space Department by calling Project Manager Arn Franzen at 617-625-6600 ext 2545, or by email at AFranzen@somervillema.gov.