LYNN — A vacant lot on the corner of Union and Exchange streets will soon be transformed into a downtown park for all to enjoy.
Construction has begun on what will likely be named Frederick Douglass Park, a tribute to the abolitionist leader who lived in Lynn in the 1800s. It will abut the Lynn Museum and Historical Society and LynnArts buildings, and include lots of grass, a performance stage and perimeter seating and benches. The site was most recently home to a weekly farmers market, which has been relocated.
The city’s arts and culture community was concerned that the colorful 60-foot-by-60-foot mural paying homage to Lynn history that decorates the entire exterior wall of 25 Exchange St. would be blocked by a large structure.
Lou Minicucci, founder and president of Minco Corp., the North Andover firm that owns the lot and is developing the former Beacon Chevrolet site on the waterfront, said the arts community need not worry.
“There will be a stage. It will be in front of the mural, but the entire mural will be visible. It will not have a roof,” he said. His firm worked closely with Sen. Brendan
P. Crighton’s office to ensure it was done properly to suit the city’s needs, he said.
Minicucci said the land, approximately 10,000 square feet, will be donated to the city. The park will cost about $750,000 and take anywhere from 120 days to six months to complete. Minco Corp. became owner of the lot as part of a land swap agreement connected to the waterfront development.
Minicucci said his firm is also developing a 1,500-square-foot linear park that will connect to the Harbor Walk near its 321-unit development at a cost of a few million dollars. The intent is for the Harbor Walk path to eventually run from Point of Pines in Revere to the MDC beaches in Lynn and Nahant, with a route to the Lynn Ferry terminal.
“We love Lynn. It’s a diamond in the rough. There’s access to the ocean, you can easily connect to (Boston and Cambridge) … We’re very excited.”
The Lynn history mural is a standout in the downtown area. Noted Lynn artist Yetti Frenkel, and renowned Bay State muralists David Fichter and Joshua Winer teamed up to create the mural, with much help from the children of Lynn.
Fichter, an artist based in Cambridge, said the team’s involvement in the mural began about 10 years ago, when it was selected to receive a Massachusetts Cultural Council/LynnArts grant. Fichter, Frenkel and Winer held workshops in the city’s three middle schools and English, Classical and St. Mary’s high schools, where for two years thousands of students created glass mosaic tiles that became part of the mural.
The archway that features the students’ “The Stories of Lynn” mosaics is 20-feet-by-20-feet on the lower part of the mural. “It reported a young person’s view of the Lynn of today,” Fichter said. “The mosaic was created by the kids.” That was phase 1 of the project.
Phase 2 focused on Lynn’s history. Pictured on the mural are such Lynn notables as poet Vincent Ferrini, inventor of the shoe lasting machine Jan Matzeliger, inventor and GE principal Elihu Thomson, Lydia Pinkham, Mary Baker Eddy, astronomer Maria Mitchell, the Hutchinson Family Singers, and Frederick Douglass.
Phase 3 finished the top of the mural, with Frenkel, who grew up in Lynn and had extensive knowledge of the city’s history, adding lots of blue sky and quotes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and other poets. Frenkel’s studio was in the LynnArts building, on the other side of the mural, and her teammates said she was the glue that held the project together through a long process.
Fichter, Frenkel and Winer, a Boston-based artist who specializes in the design and creation of public art, said the team wasn’t contacted about the park nor was their input sought.
“From the artist’s rendering of the park it looks like there will only be minimal blockage at the bottom of the mural from the stage and that makes me very happy. It looks to be a very nice design that will complement the mural very well,” said Winer. “We are proud of the mural. It is the biggest thing we’ve ever done, or will probably ever do. We care about it a great deal. We spent a lot of time in the schools, working with the students. We did most of the fundraising ourselves. It means a lot to us.”
