Architect submits plan for Lynn Commons fix

LYNN – A landscape architect hired by the city has submitted a detailed plan and rendition depicting Lynn Commons after pending improvements are completed.”Right now it’s a draft showing what we would like to do,” said Michael Murray, assistant city facilities manager and Department of Economic and Community Development staffer. “This is the first step. We received a grant to pay the architect to draw up the plans. Next we apply for construction funds from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.”Murray said the plan took into consideration the results of a survey conducted among Lynn residents to help prioritize the park upgrades.”The bandstand had the most interest,” he said. “So the construction will be focused on the bandstand and maybe the installation of benches around it, along with some lighting and trash receptacles.”The decorative lampposts, benches and trash receptacles in the plan continue the landscape theme of dark wrought iron, resembling those already in place in the downtown business district.According to Murray, the original revitalization plan was presented to the Park Commission and later subject of a public hearing last year. “At the open hearing for the neighbors, we talked about what we would like to do,” he said.The draft plan was completed by the Boston architectural landscape firm Brown, Richardson and Rowe.Landscape architect Nina Brown recommended making repairs to the historic Frederick Douglass Bandstand a top priority. The bandstand would be equipped with a hydraulic lift for the handicapped.According to Brown, the park encompasses approximately 10 acres and offers a one-mile walking loop, the circa-1890 bandstand, a fountain, a seasonal comfort station, a system of benches and historic monuments.The bandstand was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1992.The survey also indicated Lynn residents would like bronze mile markers along the one-mile loop on the Common. The priority list, after the bandstand, included repairing the fountain, the comfort station and replacing paths.Lynn Historic Commission member Calvin Anderson suggested the park lights face the ground rather than the sky or at abutting neighborhoods so as not to contribute to global light pollution.Lynn has had a commons since 1630. In the late 19th century, when Lynn was the shoe capital of the world, the shapes of the two sections of Lynn Commons were refined to look like a shoe.