A public Zoom meeting is planned for next Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. for those interested in design plans for renovation of the former Gerry School playground.
A group called Friends of the Park on Elm Street has been formed as a 501(c)3 charity to raise funds for the recreational area on public property adjoining the old Gerry School site.
“The park currently located at the site of the former Gerry School is outdated, unsafe and in desperate need of repair. We are a group of Marblehead families working together with the town of Marblehead to raise awareness and critical funding to create a new park at the current site,” the Friends note on their website.
Next Monday’s public Zoom session will feature three preliminary designs for the project prepared by landscape architect Crowley Cotrell with the goal of attracting public comment on these designs. Based upon comments from this session the group plans to formulate a final site plan and budget.
The Town of Marblehead is cooperating with the effort and has allocated $100,000 of ARPA funding to the project. The Friends group anticipates fundraising for the balance of the project’s budget which it estimates will exceed $400,000.
Information on the project and a link to the Zoom session is available via https://www.theparkonelm.org/.