LYNN — Ward 3 Councilor Coco Alinsug spoke with nearby residents at Kiley Park Wednesday evening to discuss potential improvements to the park’s safety, accessibility, and space management.
Over Pepsi and pizza, Alinsug recruited neighbors of Kiley Park to join the Kiley Park Task Force, a community-led group working with city-hired developers to enhance the park.
The park will soon receive a share of the $16.3 million in ARPA funding allocated to seven Lynn parks and playgrounds. Alinsug said he wanted a task force of residents, not developers, to assist in the planning of Kiley Park.
“As the City Councilor of this Ward, I really want the community to be part of the process. I don’t want anybody who will come here and develop professionally. The residents know exactly what they want to do with this park,” Alinsug said.
When the meeting started, residents brought up a range of issues they would like to see resolved, from trash cleanup and increased lighting and security to the construction of a dog park and the removal of fencing around the baseball diamond.
Resident and Lynn Disability Network Leader Louise Dominique said that she would like to make the park more accessible for disabled children. She brought her 9-year-old son, who has autism, with her to the meeting.
“I would like to see the park more sensory so that all kids can come and play. I want to see the park more safe, especially for kids with disabilities, so this is what I’m here for,” Dominique said.
School Committee member Brian Castellanos said that he decided to attend the meeting because he grew up playing little league in Kiley Park and wanted to keep up with its future improvements.
“As a member of the School Committee, I take a lot of pride in this city. I’m the ambassador on many different levels, but biasedly, this is my childhood park. I used to play baseball at Kiley Park and I have family and friends that still live in Ward 3 and folks who still come to the park,” Castellanos said.
Castellanos also said that he was excited to hear the kinds of improvements residents want to bring to the table.
“It’s important for our kids to stay busy and to have an opportunity to build 21st century park recreation, that’s amazing,” Castellanos said. “I want to be a steward to the task force that they’re putting together. It’s important to hear everyone’s input and to really get out to the neighborhoods and get their voices to the table.”
Castellanos said that he hopes improvements to the park will be sustainable practically and environmentally. Kiley Park Task Force Secretary Micheal Philbrick said that he joined the task force because he likes to go to the park with his son, but thinks Kiley Park needs a “refresh.”
“I live right up the road here and I have an 8-year-old son, and we like to come down here whenever he’s around,” Philbrick said. “It’s definitely due for a refresh. A lot of things get run-down, as they get damaged, they get taken down, nothing gets replaced, and then there’s a lot of interest in looking at other features we might be able to add, maybe some sort of dog park option.”
Ward 3 Capt. Lisa Prak said that she has fond memories of playing in Kiley Park as a child, so she would like to see it cleaned and better lit so that she can take her daughter to the park more often.
“My fondest memory as a kid was in this park so I would love to see my daughter have that same memory, and as of right now, we don’t come to this park because it’s got trashed, and it’s just not friendly. I would like to see it cleaned, new lighting, security, it’s really dark at night so we need better lighting,” Prak said. “I love the opportunity that we have, and I hope we can make it work for everyone – make memories for the kids and the residents here.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
