LYNN — The city has been awarded a $147,367 grant from the Commonwealth for the Barry Park Green Infrastructure Project, which will go towards the design, engineering and construction of an impervious parking area, rain gardens in the park, and bioretention swales along the roadway into the park.
All of these additions to the park will help to mitigate flooding, store and capture rainwater during a storm, improve air quality, and create a habitat for animals.
Lynn Principal Planning Director Aaron Clausen said the city is looking to select plants that can support pollinators — such as bees or butterflies — which he said is an important aspect of ecology.
“There are a lot of important aspects to this project,” Clausen said. “Using these natural-based tools to capture and infiltrate stormwater, the primary purpose is to mitigate flooding, but there are co-benefits you can get out of it too.”
Clausen said this project will complement the other project being done at the park, which will install a splash pad and multi-use courts by next summer.
This grant is part of the $21 million in funding that the Baker-Polito Administration awarded to cities and towns this week through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program.
The MVP program, created in 2017 as part of an executive order issued by Gov. Charlie Baker, provides communities with funding and technical support to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change.
The program pairs local leadership and knowledge with funds and resources from the commonwealth to address ongoing climate change impacts, such as inland flooding, storms, sea level rise, and extreme temperatures.
The grants are in addition to a proposal from the Baker-Polito Administration, which would invest $900 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into key energy and environmental initiatives, including $300 million to support climate resilient infrastructure.
With the ongoing success of the MVP program, Baker said he is pleased to double the program’s funding this year to support local climate change resilience projects throughout the commonwealth.
“Massachusetts communities are implementing important, nation-leading efforts to adapt to climate change,” Baker said. “Our administration is committed to working with municipalities across the commonwealth to tackle these urgent challenges, which is why we have proposed a significant increase in funding for climate adaptation projects through our federal ARPA spending plan.”
According to the governor’s office, the City of Lynn was awarded this MVP grant to implement a priority, on-the-ground project that focuses on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts.
Clausen said the city is expecting the design and engineering phase of the Barry Park revitalization project to take place in the fall and winter; construction for the project will be put out to bid in the spring with the aim of work being completed by mid-June.
