Market Landing Park Dedicated

Market Landing Park Dedicated
By Stewart Lytle, Reporter
NEWBURYPORT — It has been “many, many months” in the making, Mayor Sean Reardon said last week. But next week, the city will dedicate and celebrate its new signature park, Market Landing Park, and a rebuilt bulkhead that links the park and the Merrimack River.
Reardon and U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton, D-Salem, who helped secure federal funding for the bulkhead repair project, will cut the ribbon at 2 p.m. on the waterfront.
The dedication brings to a close the largest project Reardon and his team have overseen. The dedication of the park also ends one of the longest political fights in the city.
For decades, the 4.4-acre park has been embroiled in controversy over how best to use the waterfront. Some wanted to build high-end condos, retail stores and a hotel on the riverfront to boost the city’s economy. But a very vocal majority in the city, led by the Committee for the Waterfront (COW) insisted that the waterfront remain open for the public use.
More recently, several members of the city council have questioned the decision to spend $6 million it is costing to build the park.
In the past, the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority, often the focal point of the fight over housing and retail shops on the waterfront, was shut down by the state legislature at the request of the city.
Today, the Newburyport Waterfront Trust and the city manage the park and its six public access points from downtown to the 1,100-foot boardwalk. On the popular boardwalk are memorial benches.
In a more recent controversy, the city built a 207-vehicle parking garage on Merrimac Street and removed much of the parking spaces on the waterfront so the park green spaces could be enlarged. The removal of the parking spaces caused a shortage of parking, particularly for employees of downtown shops.
Now that the construction fences are down, the added space will also be used for a pedestrian path that links the two sections of the Clipper City Rail Trail and Harbor Walk. Much of the $6 million waterfront park will remain open for concerts and other live performances, yoga classes, picnics and weddings.
New sculptures are being planned as part of the park design by Boston-based Sasaki Associates. The latest sculpture was awarded last month to Portland, ME, sculptor Aaron T Stephan to create a clipper ship sculpture. Also in the works is a plaza dedicated to indigenous people, who once occupied the riverfront.
The bulkhead project funding and construction has taken about a decade to replace anchor bolts and mooring piles.
Senior Project Manager Georgie Vining, who oversaw the bulkhead repairs, believes the new $5.3 million bulkhead will protect the park for years as the city copes with rising sea levels. With Moulton’s help, the city received $2.25 million in federal community project funding, plus $1.75 million from the federal Economic Development Administration and a $1.3 million state Seaport Economic Council grant.
The Market Landing Park was funded by a $3 million loan from the Community Preservation Committee, $250,000 from the CPC’s funds two years ago and several state grants, including $400,000 from MassTrails, a division of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
In private funds, the Herman Roy Trust gave $1 million to help build the park.