Section of Lynn Commons primed for face-lift

LYNN ? Lynn Commons’ narrow, Veterans Memorial Square end familiar to drivers passing through the city’s center will be renovated next year with $400,000 in state tax dollars, city Community Development Director James Marsh said Tuesday.The money, plus $180,000 in federal block grant money, will pay to repair the cast-iron fencing around the open stretch of grass and walkway opposite St. Mary’s Church, the public library and the Boys and Girls Club.?The work that we will complete here is in concert with the work the Boys and Girls Club is undertaking, St. Mary’s and St. George’s (Greek Orthodox Church) have accomplished and the work we are doing at the library,” stated Marsh.Marsh said the improvements will be designed and put out to bid for contractors between January and June, with work taking place next summer and fall.Marsh, in a press release, stated the work will also include installing antique-style lighting, renovating the concrete walkway and the heavy, rounded curbing along the walk’s sides and installing cast-iron benches similar to ones installed around the Commons bandstand.?We are so happy to have received this funding. The Commons is one of the major gateways into downtown Lynn and should be showcased as such,” Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy stated in the release.Work planned for the Commons’ “small” section follows on improvements undertaken by the city during the last two years to renovate the Commons bandstand and to develop a master plan three years ago for the Commons’ improvement.State money for the Commons work comes from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ Commonwealth Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities program.State Sen. Thomas M. McGee stated in the release that state money has helped pay for the city to renovate Flax Pond playground and Robert McManus Field.?The best part of fighting for funding for programs like these is when you drive by parks and see them full of kids enjoying beautiful new resources,” McGee said.