Lynn to build steps to High Rock Park

LYNN – The city plans to build a flight of stone steps connecting Essex Street and High Rock Tower before the end of June.James Marsh, director of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said Monday the city received $745,000 in state grants to replace the defunct granite steps, install a shorter flight directly to the main door of the tower and create a looping path that links the two.”The staircase from Essex Street will zig-zag rather than come straight down. The design will be safer and increase public accessibility to the park,” said Marsh, recalling the former design was the focus of a lawsuit against the city, stemming from the Jan. 6, 1996 death of 11-year-old Crystal Valezquez.The girl used the snow-covered steps as a sleigh run. She struck a snowbank at the bottom of the stairs, which acted as a jump, tossing her into the path of a passing car. Her brother, Philip, 12, was also seriously injured.The state funds will pay for new granite steps and hand rails.”The stairs will wind up to the Stone Cottage from Essex Street at McGloin Square. From there, another set of stairs will connect the cottage area to the park and tower,” Marsh said. “The stairs will also have landing areas so that people can stop at those points, turn around and enjoy the view.”Bids for the project, designed by architect Vic Walker, are due Jan. 20. Work is slated to start in March, depending on the weather, and be completed by June 30 – the end of the fiscal year.Planned improvements to the neighborhood also include a bus turnaround at Stone Cottage.Both grants come with associated landscaping and tree plantings, said Marsh, noting a state PARC grant for $500,000 was bolstered by $245,000 in community development funds.The city hopes to purchase a new, more powerful telescope for the tower and complete a connection of the exterior camera to the city’s Web site.According to Marsh, students at Ford Elementary School participated in the star-gazing program centered at the tower. Such academic participation using a community facility will likely continue once the KIPP Academy Lynn opens its middle and high schools under construction adjacent to High Rock Park, he said.”If KIPP is going to be there, it means children will be there to enjoy the park, the tower and the telescope,” he said. “The new headquarters of Girls Inc. is nearby, which means the girls will benefit from the project as well.”