Improvements Coming to Three Medford Parks

A federal grant of approximately $830,000 will pay for improvements in the coming months at three Medford parks: Columbus Park, Morrison Park and Hickey Park.

Plans for the improvements were discussed at a Friday press conference by Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn along with Office of Community Development Director Lauren DiLorenzo and landscape architect Pam Shadley.

DiLorenzo said the ongoing improvements at Columbus Park will continue with work at the softball fields "to really have a versatile softball facility" there.

Accessibility improvements are the ones coming to Morrison and Hickey Parks, according to DiLorenzo.

"Some of these plans don't address every concern that everybody has, but I think they're good projects and the end result is they make them more useable for every citizen in the city of Medford," she said.

Shadley said Columbus Park improvements are coming in June. They include a new field, a new batting cage, two new dugouts, new fences, a new storage unit and a new scoreboard among others.

At Morrison and Hickey Parks, there will be new curb ramps, crosswalks and sidewalks with new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant accessibility routes.

Shadley said those projects will get underway this summer.