On Tuesday, October 24, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department hosted their first community meeting to discuss proposed improvements for Langone & Puopolo Parks on Commercial Street in the North End.
The city has budgeted about $4.5 million to rehabilitate the park facilities. The current production schedule estimates design plans for the new park will be established and finalized by the end of next year. Construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2019.
The project aims to reinforce existing elements of the parks, such as the playground, basketball court, baseball fields, softball field, bocce, so that they are performing at a higher level. Some additional opportunities for development at the site include, expanding walk-able access to the park and harbor, introducing efficient lighting options, addressing sea-level rise, and finding better ways to incorporate land that is currently not in use.
Tuesday’s meeting kicked off the public engagement portion of the project. After a historical presentation about the progression of the park, those in attendance were invited to share their thoughts on the site’s existing conditions and potential improvements. The conversation generated several new ideas, such as adding bathrooms and storage areas to the park, creating dugouts/shaded areas on the playing fields, expanding the baseball field to standard size, and setting up more park attractions for older residents in the area, to name a few.
The project team from the Parks & Recreation Department said they will incorporate key takeaways from the meeting into their design plans and present design alternatives at the next meeting, hopefully to be scheduled before the end of the year.
In anticipation for the next meeting, the project team encouraged community members to review other waterfront parks like LoPresti Park in East Boston, Menino Park in Charlestown, and additional parks in other cities for more insight into possible design options.
To learn more about this project or provide input, please visit the project webpage. The full presentation is also available here.
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Public restrooms should definitely be a top priority!
Dan. Totally agree. Along the same track, I have been approached many times by tourists……’where are the restrooms?”. HUH? I draw a blank. Where are they?
It is a mystery as to why the city doesn’t provide this service to those who bring lots of $$$$$$ to the area.
Yes!
Too many people think those baseball fields are dog parks. Signs everywhere but every morning the parks are being used as giant canine toilets.
I also see the parks being used as a place for dogs. When I see it, I politely walk up to the person and point them to the sign. More often than not, they leave with their dog. Not a permanent fix but I think it’s OK to point that out to the dog’s owner.
But the doggies are so cute!
IIRC, isn’t there a public restroom next to the bocce courts? Does that one even work?
I know this is pie in the sky thinking but it would be great to put a underground parking garage similar to the one in the Boston Common under the park. For residents only and for $5 a day. Is this too unreasonable to ask for?
Yes, it is too unreasonable. An underground parking garage would cost $100,000 per space in construction costs alone. A 50 space garage would cost more than the entire budget for this park renovation.
I prefer that the parks department spends it limited budget on parks, not parking.
Not going to happen Nate . No money. Engineering issues. $5/day? Surely you jest. We need fewer cars not more parking in the North End.
Your right its a foolish proposal. We should focus our efforts on what we already have. There are over 500 empty spaces in the Dock Sq garage alone every night. We should go after those for $5 a night resident parking discount.
Its a real crime that so many empty parking spaces in neighborhood parking garages go unfilled at night and in the day and we are left fighting in the streets for on-street parking. I once counted only 12 cars in the Dock Square garage one night. I bet its like that every night. I be the top floor roof parking never has cars parked on it EVER!!!