Landscape architect outlines upgrades for Lynn Common

LYNN – The city took a first step Tuesday toward revitalizing Lynn Common when landscape architect Nina Brown recommended prioritizing repairs to the historic Frederick Douglass Bandstand and installing ornamental lamp posts in the vicinity.Brown, of the Boston architectural landscape firm Brown, Richardson and Rowe, was hired by the state Executive Office of Energy and the Environment to design an improvement plan for the Lynn park.The grant funding is provided through the Gateways Cities Park Program, which includes 22 communities.”We are taking suggestions and ideas from people on how they want the park used,” said Brown’s associate, landscape architect Jing Yang. “We will determine which ones the people think are most important.”Brown said the park encompasses approximately 10 acres and offers a one-mile walking loop, along with the bandstand, a fountain, a seasonal comfort station, a system of benches and historic monuments.”The bandstand might be what we need to do first,” she said. “We met with the Park Commission last October and we will meet again in January to present the feedback from tonight. Our purpose is to provide Lynn with a plan so that they can apply for a construction grant.”Among the items residents want to see are mile markers along the one-mile loop.”We could have bronze markers off to the side of the route so that people can see how far they have walked,” said Brown,She noted that a consistent request was for additional path or sidewalk lighting. Embedding the bronze plaques in the cement or asphalt paths could subject them to damage from snow plowing, she said.”We would recommend decorative, pedestrian-scale lights, which are 17-18 feet tall,” Brown said.Lynn Historic Commission member Calvin Anderson said the lights should face the ground rather that the sky or at abutting neighborhoods. He suggested Lynn not contribute to global light pollution, adding that the installation of lighting would help deter certain “nightlife” that comes alive in the park after dark.”This would help take back the night,” he said.Other improvements include installation of black iron park benches and trash bins, said Donald Walker, project manager at the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development (OECD).Walker noted that the city previously received a $30,000 Gateways grant that was used toward the cost of restoring the Stone Tower in Lynn Woods. “As for the Common, we need a comprehensive renovation plan that we can fund incrementally. We know public safety is a concern, so better lighting is a priority,” he said.Brown described the Common as “a wonderful, historic, urban park” that attracts picnickers, walkers, joggers, and those who gather for pick-up soccer games.”We would suggest keeping the open space where the pick-up games are played, but not stripe the field,” she said. “We know there are other places in the city with athletic fields.”Brown said John Moberger from OECD brought a hydraulic lift to the bandstand earlier this year so that a historic preservation architect could closely inspect the domed roof, the balustrades, the rotting wood columns and support beams and generally assess how much work must be done.Since residents complained that the bandstand – built around 1890 – is not handicapped-accessible, the preservation expert suggested lowering an existing exterior doorway and fitting the structure with a lift.The bandstand, with a rubble stone foundation, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1992. The Common last underwent improvements in 1995.Brown informed Walker and his colleagues that Asian long-horned beetles remain a threat to trees, which should be considered when new plantings are selected.City Councilor-at-large Paul Crowley asked if the sidewalks in front of the Lynn Public Library, which abuts the Common, might be included in the design and subsequent grant application. Brown explained that the grants are for open-space projects only.