PEABODY — City leaders celebrated the official unveiling of the new EcoCampus at James Street Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The project replaced an old, virtually unusable portion of the park and turned it into an area for leisure and congregation with benches, a patio, new sidewalks, and a bike rack. In addition, a new pathway was constructed that extends beyond the new patio entrance, past the rear baseball fields, and toward Higgins Middle School.
Mayor Ted Bettencourt referred to the EcoCampus as a “beautification project.”
“We beautified this area with some benches and landscaping,” Bettencourt said. “A little bit of water-retention area there to help the neighborhood. Some new bleachers, new fencing, sidewalks, and the path around the field.”
Bettencourt emphasized the importance of creating a welcoming recreational space for an area that is surrounded by facilities such as the middle school, a dog park, a skate park, and basketball courts.
“To me, this is the Central Park of our city,” Bettencourt said.
The project was funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities program. PARC assists cities and towns in acquiring and developing land for parks and outdoor recreation. Municipalities can use these grants to acquire parkland, build new parks, or renovate existing parks.
The idea first materialized within the city’s government in 2019. Construction began in August, and the EcoCampus was complete by the middle of October. Ward 4 City Councilor Julie Daigle explained how the updates should make it safer for Higgins students when they walk to and from school.
“We needed a sidewalk because if you look at it, it’s a big open street,” Daigle said. “All the kids congregate here.”
The scope of the EcoCampus had to be scaled back somewhat due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bettencourt said. However, he is optimistic that more can be done to connect all the facilities in the future.
