City to Partially Open Carr Park Phase I Renovations to the Public

The Carr Park Phase I renovation will partially open to the public on July 19, announced Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. The City will hold an ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, July 22 at 4 p.m. to officially unveil the new space with a pickleball tournament following the event. The $2.8 million first phase of the renovation has been completed, with a partial opening due to the growing time of the field seeding.

“The goal of this massive Carr Park renovation was to create an accessible and sustainable green space that would serve our community in a variety of different ways,” said Mayor Lungo-Koehn. “Thank you to the entire parks project team, including our Department of Planning, Development and Sustainability, Recreation Department and Department of Public Works for your work on transforming this park.”

Starting on July 19, the loop path, pickleball courts, Stowers Ave path, and periphery areas will be open for public use. The central field will continue to be closed to the public until Spring 2025, due to the newly seeded field lawn which needs two growing seasons to establish. The City continues to ask that no one enter the fenced off field until it is open to the public. Walking or rolling on the lawn compacts the roots of the growing lawn, which has long-term maintenance consequences. These consequences, such as ‘bald’ areas of the field, are difficult and costly to correct and would require redirecting resources from other important work. Please help us protect our parks so that they continue to be safe for more people to use.

The Carr Park renovation project was split into two phases, with Phase I including an accessible path that circles the entire park field, reconstruction of two baseball diamonds, a woodland area cleanup and invasive plant removal, fully dedicated pickleball courts, and more. This initial phase is funded through a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Land and Water Conservation Fund Program (LWCF), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Community Preservation Act (CPA), and linkage monies.

Phase II of the renovation will include an accessible four-season playground; integrated water play features; a shaded central plaza; repurposed boulders and removed debris from the woodland for decor and natural play; the installation of interpretive signage discussing solar energy and climate resilient features at the park; accessible seating and picnic tables; a drinking fountain with bottle filler; pedestrian lighting; and maintenance of existing trees and planting of new trees and shrubbery. Construction for this second phase aims to begin during fall 2024.

You can find a complete list of current and future parks projects here.

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