MALDEN — City officials say a comprehensive look at the city’s parks and open spaces is a first-of-its-kind report.
The 112-page document, which lists and evaluates open space and parklands, linking the inventory with data on polling, committee research and other valuable information, was formally presented to the members of the Malden City Council Tuesday night.
Malden Redevelopment Authority (MRA) Director Deborah Burke and Malden City Planner Michelle Romero submitted the report to the City Council.
“Nothing has been done like this for the city before to this extent,” Burke said.
In addition to having in-depth details of every park and open space, there is data available to the council. Burke said the report would be a valuable resource for the panel.
She praised the work undertaken to prepare the report by Open Space and Recreation Committee members including Romero, City Engineer Yem Lip, mayor’s office representative Maria Luise and Recreation Coordinator Joe Levine.
Councilors said they were impressed with the study and it will improve parks planning.
“This is a fantastic report, said Councilor-at-Large Debbie DeMaria. “It is thorough and well-presented. We will absolutely be able to make more and better decisions on our park space and open space through the information in this report.”
Romero explained the report provided an inventory listing of every park, playground and open space in Malden, with detailed information on each, including acreage, condition of the park or facility amenities and calendar history.
“The perception was this was an advisory committee, but as we moved along with the research and discussion it evolved more into a steering committee,” Romero said.
She also pointed to an online survey sampling residents’ priorities for city open space and park and recreational facilities.
“Overwhelmingly, Malden residents want to improve, protect and expand our open space,” Romero said. “That’s the bottom line.”
In addition to the Open Space and Recreation Committee report, Burke said Malden has also completed a municipal Visioning Plan, a major Open Streets report and plan and is in the first year of an established Community Preservation program with a committee meeting and formulating objectives and proposals for the past several months. “It really is a community-wide combined effort. It is expected to lead to some solid proposals and results,” Burke said.
