LYNN — The city will spend $150,000 on drainage improvements at Gowdy Park, which is aimed at alleviating flooding that often occurs at the ballfields.
The project was put out to bid last week and will include drain pipe installation, clean fill placement, irrigation and lawn restoration, according to a bid document prepared by the city’s Purchasing Department.
The majority of the field improvements will be paid for through a $108,000 bond secured through the city’s Community Development Department and approved by the City Council last year.
Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi, who represents the area where the park is located, said the drainage improvements are sorely needed. The park, which includes two baseball fields, floods nearly every time it rains, and results in a pond about a foot deep in the outfield at times, he said.
“What’s happened is that decades ago, it was a wetland,” Lozzi said. “It was probably filled in to make a park. Because of that, (with) the nature of the subsoils in the field, over the years, the low point in the field would pond. The last year or two, it’s gotten very severe. It literally ponds in the middle.”
The work is being complemented by ongoing construction by the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission on Tuscan Road, which abuts the park. LWSC crews are building a manhole that will eventually connect to a series of drainage pipes at the field that will be constructed by the contractor selected for the Gowdy project, according to Lozzi.
Lozzi said the field improvements are also good news for the Wyoma Little League, which plays there. He spoke with the league’s president, who reported they were excited about the work bringing relief to the field.
“I’m very happy and pleased that we’re on our way toward resolving the Gowdy Park ballfield problem,” Lozzi said.
The drainage upgrades at Gowdy are part of more than $600,000 the city is spending this year to fix up its dilapidated parks and playgrounds, part of the council-approved $4 million bond.
James Marsh, community development director, has said his office will likely supplement the park renovations with an additional $100,000 in funding through community development block grants.
