SWAMPSCOTT — The Town has received a $100,000 grant from the Healey-Driscoll Administration for the resurfacing of the Abbot Playground, located at the former Clarke Elementary School.
The initiative for the Town to resurface the playground rides on the coattails of $12 million that was granted by the administration to communities throughout Massachusetts to create and improve local parks and protect natural land across the state. The funding will also support initiatives like establishing new walking trails, protecting forests and wetlands, building parks in neighborhoods, and preserving land near rivers and lakes.
For Abbot Playground, the work entails the removal of the existing surface material and installing new safety surfacing to ensure children have a play area that’s both safe and accessible.
Gov. Maura Healey said that protecting open spaces is about “investing in the health, safety and wellbeing of our communities.”
“These projects support local economies, improve public health, and make our neighborhoods better places to live. This funding helps ensure that every resident has access to the benefits of nature,” Healey said.
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said that local governments and conservation commissions are “essential to protecting the land that matters most to their communities.”
“They know the land; they understand the needs; and they’re trusted by the people they serve. These grants give them the resources to turn local priorities into lasting protections,” Driscoll said.
The grants are awarded through three programs of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), in order to support climate resilience and the conservation of land.
EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper expressed the notion that the protection of natural land has become more necessary as elements like flooding, hot summers, and unpredictable weather become more frequent.
“Forests, wetlands, and other open spaces help absorb stormwater, cool down neighborhoods, and reduce the impacts of extreme weather. These grants allow communities to hold onto the land that protects them,” Tepper said.
The Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities supports communities in the creation and renovation of outdoor recreation areas. The Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity program supports conservation commissions in protecting natural land.
