Reading's Birch Meadow Park Construction Project Underway

READING, MA — The Town of Reading announced that work began Wednesday on the Birch Meadow Park construction project.

The project is expected to add parking spaces, restrooms and a new walkway to the park.

Town officials said the first action this week will be for contractors to set up a construction fence and erosion controls at the park in preparation for the construction.

As of Wednesday, the former Imagination Station play area parking lot and the area surrounding the walkway —where the construction will take place — will be closed for safety reasons, officials said. Those areas are expected to remain closed through mid-October.

The closing off of these areas is likely to impact residents who park in the lot to access Coolidge Middle School or the Burbank YMCA, according to officials.

In February, the Reading Post reported that the Community Planning and Development Commission (CPDC) voted 4-0 to approve the minor site plan for phase one of the Birch Meadow master plan.

The plan includes the construction of a parking lot with 55 striped spaces at the site of the former Imagination Station play area, the restroom pavilion in the center of the park and an improved walkway "spine," which will connect Bird Meadow Drive with Reading Memorial High School.

Phase one construction is being paid for with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Reading Post reported.