Flax Pond plan includes fountain, kid splash

LYNN – The benches are broken, the tennis courts crumbling, the playground equipment rusted and the perimeter cable fencing in dire need of replacement.City development officials are taking a hard look at the Flax Pond recreation area at the corner of Boston Street and Broadway. The small park and pond are a favorite of neighborhood residents and those whose homes abut the water body.James Marsh, director of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said the city has received a $500,000 grant to revitalize Flax Pond, including the site buildings, play equipment, utilities, walks, roads, irrigation system and landscaping.A highlight of the design involves installation of a fountain that aerates the pond while providing an aesthetic focal point on the water nearest Chestnut Street.”People will be able to see the fountain from the street as they pass by, or simply come to the park and enjoy it,” Marsh said. “The fountain will be in the cove near the street, so you can see it if you are driving along Chestnut Street toward Wyoma Square.”Families will also be able to bring their children to a new spray and splash amusement facility called a SplashPad, which features a synthetic surface and a series of sprinkler heads on poles.Another park signature piece is the gazebo that will be erected in the corner of the park nearest Boston Street. The storage building at the park will contain the controls to the spray park.”Flax Pond is one of our largest parks in the city, encompassing four acres of land and more than 50 acres of water surface,” said Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy. “The park is literally in the middle of the city, with easy parking and bus access that will afford all children in Lynn the ability to enjoy the city’s first water-themed park.”The gazebo was made a prominent feature of the overall park design to afford residents a shady retreat from which to view the pond and fountain, the mayor said.The funds must be spent, the project completed, before June 30.According to Marsh, the city is methodically upgrading its recreational facilities. The work started with Manning Field and moved on to Keaney Park on Goodridge Street, a former marsh near Lynn English High School.Keaney Park received a $425,600 grant in 2008 for a major makeover. Flax Pond was next on the list, followed by McManus Field off Commercial Street and a series of smaller parks.Marsh said Flax Pond plans call for installation of new benches, seating replacement on existing benches, reconstruction of two tennis courts and a basketball court, new tennis posts and basketball backboards and nets. Highlights of the project include construction of a metal-framed gazebo with benches and associated concrete sidewalks, and installation of the aerator fountain in the cove near Chestnut Street.The park’s wood and cable perimeter bollards will be replaced with a wooden perimeter rail, he said.Additionally, the plan calls for installation and maintenance of erosion control and pond protection measures. In recent years, the pond has been plagued by algae growth.Vortex, the SplashPad manufacturer, has constructed over 3,000 such play facilities worldwide, based on the concept of “zero-depth aquatics.”The SplashPad combines the sensations of different water movements – flowing, misting, jetting – with a variety of products to enhance the play adventure, according to Marsh.