March will be the starting point for one of the city’s most ambitious open space additions in its recent history.
Shown above are preliminary renderings of the new soccer fi eld to be built at Highland Park beginning in March.
Highland Park, for many years a largely underutilized and ill-kept public park, will undergoacomplete remake.
This will include a new artificial turf field configured for soccer and the kind of 24/7 use that will make it available to the city’s youth at nearly all hours of the day and night.
“It will be like creating ten new fields,” said City Manager Jay Ash.
Eastern Minerals, as part of its waterfront masterplan agreement with the city, will be donating the artificial turf .
“We are eager to get going with this project,” said Joe McNamee of Eastern Minerals.
The agreement with Eastern Minerals also calls for the removal of the unused asphalt storage tanks along the Chelsea River on Marginal Street.
Early designs for the Highland Street park and for the public space along the waterfront reveal improvements that should delight the residents of the neighborhood as well as those who hammered out the agreement with Eastern Minerals.
However, before any of the designs are implemented, a community meeting at a date to be announced, will be held to get public feedback on those designs.