On a hot afternoon, the new playground at Arsenal Park bubbled with activity. Children lined up on the stairway up to the two-story high slide, and then cooled off in the new splash pad. These are just some of the features of the renovated park that was officially re-opened on July 15.
The ribbon cutting held at the park behind Arsenal Yards marked the end of the second phase of the park renovation, and several years of planning and construction. Along with the new playground, the recently completed section has basketball courts, tennis/pickleball courts, picnic areas with grills, a skate park, community garden plots, and the playing field, said Recreation Director Ernie Thebado, who thanked the designers from CDM Smith for their work on Arsenal Park.
Conservation Commission Chair Maria Rose welcomed residents to the park during the ceremony.
“It’s our sincere hope that the reconstruction of Arsenal Park is a vibrant space where people of all ages and abilities can come and cool off in the spray park or enjoy exercise at the various amenities here, perhaps use the playground or connect with nature by growing your own vegetables or flowers in the community garden, or maybe learning about the new rain garden here, or perhaps just finding a place to rest and enjoy the quiet,” Rose said.
Children also got to enjoy ice cream, lemonade, and cotton candy during the celebration.
Currently, the playing field is behind a chain link fence, but it is expected to open to the public in the Fall for recreational use, Thebado said.
The first phase of the renovation covered the eastern side of the park, and included a lawn, seating area, landscaping, and an archway at the entrance from Arsenal Yards.
The area has been a park for more than four decades, but before that it was part of the former U.S. Army Arsenal, said City Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli.
“I want to acknowledge and thank our earlier town leaders, when the Arsenal closed in 1968 had the forethought to reserve a portion of the army base for new public park and put it under the care custody of the Conservation Commission, so that the so that the primary focus of the new park would always be open green space,” Piccirilli said.
The Army’s Material Technology Laboratory closed in 1968, and members of the community worked with state and local officials to deal with the contamination left by the former use, Rose said. The woman who led the effort for the Conservation Commission was Diane Proctor.
“This took decades to accomplish, and meanwhile, Proctor advocated to transform a portion of this part of this area into parkland,” Rose said. “Despite the obstacles, she succeeded and proudly helped officiate the original grand opening of this park in 1980.”
Rose said that Proctor, along with another former Conservation Commission Chair, Marylouise Pallotta McDermott, “instilled a strong sense of responsibility to preserve and protect open spaces throughout Watertown.” The Conservation Commission plans to honor Proctor with a memorial tree in Arsenal Park, Rose said.
After 40 years, Piccirilli said, the park was showing its age and was “in desperate need of improvement.”
“The eastern end of Arsenal Park was a forlorn field surrounded by a chain link fence overlooking the loading docks and the trash dumpsters at the Arsenal Mall,” Piccirilli said.
In 2017, the City started planning for the new-look Arsenal Park, gathering input from the public at a series of public forums.
“This turned out to be a much bigger project than what we originally planned or budgeted for, and like any other renovation project, especially one on a former Army base, there were a lot of unexpected things under the ground,” Piccirilli said. “But as we heard from residents about what they wanted their park to be, we incorporated their ideas, which increased the cost. We incorporated things like a skate park, community garden, a splash pad, and the best climbing structure in the Boston area.”
Planning for the park was well underway when City Manager George Proakis arrived in Watertown nearly three years ago.
“A lot of the design work had been done. A lot of the dreams had been put together. The idea of doing a 20 foot high crow’s nest with one of the biggest slides in eastern Massachusetts,” he said. “They really cruised along with some of these great ideas.”
Completing park projects has been one of the focuses of City staff since Proakis arrived. Work at Saltonstall Park is well underway, and Proakis hopes to have the new stage finished in time for the Faire on the Square. Renovating the Lowell Street Playground has also begun and is expected to be completed in the Fall. Next after that are projects at Bemis Park and How Park. Also on the horizon is Phase II of the Victory Field renovations, which went to bid in May.
