LYNN — The Conservation Commission voted to approve the construction of stairs leading up to a roughly 40-foot tall landfill pile overlooking Lynn’s waterfront off the Lynnway.
The permit marks a momentous step toward the city’s creation of Harbor Park, a 33-acre waterfront recreation space — a project now seven years in the making after it was first planned in the city’s 2017 Waterfront Open Space Master Plan.
Environmental Engineer Bruce Haskell, who the City of Lynn hired to assist with the waterfront park’s design, said the city planned to use granite blocks from the eroded Riley Way along the city’s shoreline to construct the steps up to the top of the landfill. With the remains of Riley Way sitting under knee-high water, crews would have to excavate the granite prior to the construction of the steps.
“The intent is really to reuse this granite and to reduce the cost and allow more park appurtenances to be constructed out there,” Haskell said.
The landfill will serve as Harbor Park’s lookout area with a clear view of the ocean and the Boston skyline after its expected opening in the fall of 2025. Haskell said the portion of the park will be 50% complete by the spring.
Last year, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC), property owner Charter Environmental, MassDevelopment, and the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) to begin work on Harbor Park.
The MOU signing set the park’s budget at $14.6 million, with Charter contributing $4 million, EOEEA bringing in $7.4 million, and the City $3.2 million, Principal Planner Aaron Clausen said.
“Like Lynn Woods, it would be the entire city’s resource and another place for people to recreate, and it really offers a significant opportunity to engage with the waterfront… It also serves as a driver for economic development and redevelopment of the waterfront. It does so in a way that I think keeps in mind the community, because the open space is accessible to the private sector,” Clausen said following the signing of the MOU.
