LYNN — Girls Inc. of Boston and Lynn will be renovating its outdoor play area to enhance its safe and healthy learning space.
The play area currently allows for drone flying and gardening for the girls to explore scientific themes. Its redesign will include a new play structure, surfacing, enhanced fencing, a seating area, improved lighting, and a butterfly garden. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2026.
Natalie Martinez, CEO of Girls Inc., said the outdoor play area is “critical” to the Lynn location because it “allows for the girls to have an outlet outside of the regular activities that they do outside of school.”
Martinez added that, given the building’s “public facing” location on High Street, the outdoor renovation will positively impact the community by adding security and improving overall upkeep.
“Being a major nonprofit organization in the community, it’s important that we continue to deepen our roots and demonstrate to families and other nonprofits that we’re here to support them. We have a commitment to serving the girls in the community at large. We have a specific focus on girls, but we are also really tapped into supporting the families and the Lynn ecosystem,” Martinez said.
The project was made possible through a $320,000 grant from the Healey-Driscoll administration allocated for child care and afterschool program capital renovations. Martinez said the funding “speaks to the governor’s commitment to spreading resources throughout the commonwealth, instead of all of them being concentrated in metro Boston.”
Gov. Maura Healey said, “Massachusetts remains focused on making early education and care more affordable, accessible, and equitable across the state. Providing capital funding to programs is an essential part of that work, helping families struggling with the high cost of living make ends meet and ensuring their kids can get a high-quality education in modernized facilities. That’s why we increased funding for this program in our capital plan, and it is great to see that funding at work to build more child care programs and expand capacity.”
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said, “The governor and I have had the privilege of traveling around the state and visiting some of our incredible child care programs, where kids have access to innovative and high-quality outdoor and indoor spaces that spark curiosity and promote learning and exploration. I am grateful that we are able to provide programs with the financial resources they need to invest in our youngest learners and strengthen local early education and care infrastructure.”
Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, former superintendent of Lynn Public Schools, said: “By infusing funds into our local communities to renovate, repair, and expand child care facilities, we are making Massachusetts a better place to live, go to school, work, raise a family, and build a better future.”
