Laura Walsh, senior projects manager for the Department of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management, told the City Council during a Dec. 9 meeting about the many renovations that will happen at Magazine Park.
Photo credit: Focus Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — The largest park in the McKnight neighborhood is receiving a makeover thanks to recent grant money approved by the City Council.
The city received a $1 million land and water conservation fund grant to renovate Magazine Park to make it more accessible, inclusive and climate resilient, according to Laura Walsh, the senior projects manager for the Department of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management.
Walsh told the council in early December that the $1 million grant will be accompanied by a $1 million contribution from the city to help cover the $2 million project cost.
The project first started from a Community Preservation Act grant that the neighborhood submitted for design, and then the city was able to move into the larger construction grant process, Walsh said.
Aside from adding a new splash pad and playground, the city will renovate the park’s basketball court and softball diamond, according to Walsh, and the project will also include new tree plantings and other landscaping.
“It will have a little bit of everything,” Walsh said.
The grant and the $1 million from the city will cover construction, which Walsh should begin in spring 2025.
“The grant ends December of 2026, so we will definitely be done before that,” Walsh said.
During a Dec. 9 meeting, the council expressed overwhelming support for the renovations. Ward 4 City Councilor Malo Brown said he remembered when the park was dust bowl when he first entered council, but since then, benches have been put in and now this grant and the city match will fund the full renovation.
Brown thanked Walsh for her active attention to the inner city parks in Springfield.
“This is something that our community really needed,” said Brown, who represents the ward where the park is located. “This Magazine Park project is something he; it’s something big.”
Ward 8 City Councilor Zaida Govan echoed Brown’s sentiments by thanking Walsh for her commitment to improving the parks throughout Springfield, citing the Hubbard Park and Myrtle Street Park upgrades in Indian Orchard as examples.
“The parks department has done a great job with our parks in the city,” Govan said.
During the meeting, which is when the council approved the grant money, At-Large City Councilor Trayce Whitfield noted how the full renovation of Magazine Park has been a long time coming for the city.
“It’s been a long time in the making, so I just can’t wait to see what the transformation looks like,” Whitfield said. “Great job to you all.”
