RESCHEDULED: City to Unveil Renovations at Hickey Park Courts with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Knockout Tournament

UPDATE: The City has rescheduled the Hickey Park basketball and tennis court renovation ribbon cutting ceremony to September 20 at 3pm, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn announced. The ceremony will also include a knockout basketball tournament against the Mayor and City staff. The Hickey Park upgrades are funded by the Community Preservation Act (CPA), totaling about $190K. 

“Over the last three years we’ve made significant progress on improving access to facilities at our parks and open spaces but there’s more to do,” Mayor Lungo-Koehn said. “The courts at Hickey Park were in major need of a full rebuild and are now open for the public to enjoy. Thank you to our Department of Public Works for spearheading this project, as well as our Office of Planning, Development, and Sustainability and Procurement Office for working tirelessly throughout the construction and planning process to deliver an amazing community space.” 

In addition to the improvements at Hickey Park, the City has also been working on various park improvement projects over the last several months.  

The new Morrison Park Playground was just unveiled, boasting a sandbox, preschool-aged play elements, and safety improvements. The City also broke ground on a $1.4 million renovation project at Gillis Park in August that includes a total redesign of the baseball field, a new outdoor exercise area, a loop walking path and accessibility improvements. Carr Park is also close to breaking ground on the initial phase of construction which includes 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. 

Community outreach will be used to inform the design for the second part of the Carr Park project. This phase includes a four-season playground, obstacle course and fitness area, teen swings, two basketball courts- one of which covered with the intent to install solar panels on the roof, a shaded pavilion with seating, a skate park, additional invasive plant management, and more. Funding for the second phase comes from a $1.5 million federal earmark secured by Congresswoman Katherine Clark, as well as ARPA and additional grant funding. 

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