Report: Lynn parks are in rough shape

LYNN – A local non-profit is leading an effort to cleanup of city parks after a survey it conducted reported poor conditions at many of the city?s parks and playgrounds.Students of the non-profit adult education program Operation Bootstrap recently visited more than 20 parks and playgrounds in Lynn as part of a community-service project.The group then produced a binder that included detailed descriptions and pictures of the conditions at each park.The students reported seeing an overabundance of garbage and broken or rusty equipment at the majority of parks and playgrounds, with only a few parks – including Gallagher Playground and Hood Park – being reported as clean and well kept.?We went out and saw litter, bandages, and there were clothes on the ground, like people are living there. We saw a drug deal going on in one of the parks, which was shocking to us,” Operation Bootstrap Director Mabge Savane said. “In the summertime our children are outside a lot more, and we don?t want to have to worry about them being hurt, so we want to make the parks safer.”Many of the problems Savane spoke about were found at Ames Playground on Boston Street. An Operation Bootstrap student reported seeing peeling metal, broken swings and basketball nets, racial comments and dirty words and drawing on tables and a homeless person?s bedding in a corner.The accompanying pictures showed graffiti, a pair of jeans on the ground, the bedding and dirty band-aids. The Operation Bootstrap student also noted in large, bold lettering, “Obvious drug deal went down while I was there.”An Operation Bootstrap student also described seeing a man drinking beer at GEAA Field on Summer Street. The student noted that there was a strong smell of alcohol coming from the man who stood 10 feet away.Other students reported seeing a hole in the slide that could be dangerous at High Rock Park, and a stake sticking out of the ground at Filene Playground on Western Avenue.Operation Bootstrap presented the binder to Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy in a meeting on July 22. Savane said the mayor told her that the city doesn?t have the money or resources to clean up the parks alone, but the city agreed to team up with Operation Bootstrap for a concentrated effort.?The mayor decided to keep the book to make copies of it,” said Savane, who added that Operation Bootstrap is happy to help with cleanup. “A lot of work went into the book.”Kennedy did not return calls for the story, but her office made the binder available to The Daily Item.City Councilor at Large Paul Crowley said the city needs help from community members in keeping the parks clean.?Keeping parks in acceptable condition needs to be a priority of the city, and in many respects they do try to keep it up with the limited resources we have,” Crowley said. “But the best way to solve some of these issues is with community involvement, like the Highlands Coalition. That?s how you make it work. You get help from the city and the department of public works, and you get the community involved.”Operation Bootstrap students saw Parks and Recreation staff who appeared to have no work to do at Kiley Playground, Lynn Woods Playground and Warren Street Playground. According to the Kiley Playground report, there were papers, bottles, food wrappers and old magazines all over the ground, along with “two park staff people doing absolutely nothing, one (who) was lying on the bench resting.”Department of Public Works Commissioner Jay Fink was contacted, but he was unavailable for comment on the matter. Assistant Superintendent of Parks and Playgrounds Lisa Nerich was also contacted, but unavailable.Likewise, the students who visited Lynn Woods Playground described seeing overflowing garbage bins. The one park staff member who was there told Operation Bootstrap, “I get paid to sit here; I love it. All the kids are at Gowdy.” Gowdy Park is located on Cedarbrook Road.According to the City of Lynn website, Kiley Playground, Lynn Woods Playground