Director of Parks and Open Space Arn Franzen’s “listening session” gathered feedback from community members regarding their hopes and wishes for the future of Lincoln Park. – Photo by Harry Kane.

By Harry Kane

The city invited residents to a meeting at the Argenziano School last Wednesday to solicit input for the Lincoln Park renovations. Around 100 park enthusiasts gathered in the cafeteria to listen to a brief Powerpoint presentation about the 6.6 acre green space and offer their suggestions for improvements.

Lincoln Park is one of the largest recreation spaces in the city. The major components of the Ward 2 park include a soccer field, basketball court, baseball diamond and playground.

Several of the components are in need of repair, said Arn Franzen, Director of Parks and Open Space. “It’s very difficult to maintain a field that’s in such constant use.” The soccer field is “unsafe by most standards.”

He noted the water feature is in poor condition but still functional and that the existing play structures in the children’s play area aren’t in the greatest shape.

“This is an important meeting for the city. This is an important meeting for the neighborhood,” Franzen said, standing before the attendees at the meeting.

The Lincoln Park meeting was setup to be a “listening session” and involve the public’s ideas in the redesigning of the park. “We want to hear what people’s opinions are, what they want to see,” Franzen said. The design process won’t start until the city understands community needs. A tentative date has been set for a follow up community meeting on Dec. 2.

The city has renovated other parks recently and the focus, Franzen said, has been on community gardens, new tree plantings with improved walkways, seating and play spaces.

In Somerville, the total public open space is 141 acres, which is roughly 5.5 percent of the city. But only 45 percent of that land is public open space owned by the City of Somerville. Those open spaces are city parks, schoolyards, recreation fields and cemeteries.

Following the presentation, residents were asked to divide into small groups and discuss amongst themselves the ideas they had for the park. People recorded their recommendations for the park and handed them into Franzen.

Some suggestions for the park included an improved school playground with swings, a rubber running path around the outside of the park, a shaded pavilion with tables and grilles, a space for skateboarders and trick bike riders, improved play structures with a water feature, a sports scoreboard for the baseball diamond, and a public bathroom.

One of the big reservations held by constituents that were repeatedly voiced during the discussion are the current restrictions associated with the field.  The school has the field until 6 p.m. and the Somerville Youth Soccer League uses the field until 9 p.m. After that, the field is locked and tightly controlled to keep dogs off, according to city officials.

Catherine Thompson of Marion Street said, “It should be open to the neighbors and to the sports, not just one or the other.” Thompson likes the idea of the entire park being accessible to everyone and not just the select few that reserve that section of the park. “It should be unique,” she added. “Keep it as natural as possible.”

Thompson also suggested an improved water fountain that could include a lower fountain for dogs. She said that a designated dog park area would be beneficial and protect the other areas from dog feces.

Thompson’s daughter, Emily, 9, also had some renovation ideas, which included a tree house, mural, public art or a statue.