Forty community volunteers gathered last Saturday at the Portland Street Playground, just below 5th Avenue in Haverhill, to install colorful play equipment for children ages 2-12, including a new swing set, a large new play structure with over a dozen different activities, and two refurbished play elements reserved from the demolition of the previous playground.
The new equipment is a gift to the City of Haverhill from Team Haverhill, which raised over $35,000 from businesses, individuals, and foundations to augment the City’s recent investments in the site. Saturday’s “Community Build” event is the centerpiece of a two-year renovation project, organized by Team Haverhill and the City, which is slated to continue through this summer. Within the next few weeks, the City will install a new basketball court and will pave several walkways through the new “family gathering area” in the center of the site.
By the end of the summer, the City will be installing benches, four-seat game tables, trees, and other landscape elements to give a park-like feel to the space that separates the playground from the court. Recent work on the front wall has made the whole site more open, visible, and welcoming, while also creating a considerable amount of informal seating.
“Even though it has taken a couple of years to pull this off,” said Team Haverhill President Alice Mann, “rebuilding is the easy part; keeping it clean and safe is the hard part.”
To that end, Team Haverhill volunteers are already supporting neighborhood residents as they organize themselves to monitor playground use, report dangerous conditions, and perform simple clean-up tasks on a regular basis— as several neighbors have done for years. Team Haverhill will assist with more major clean-up days and encourage local agencies to sponsor positive activities for families on the site.
Neighbors interested in the “watch group,” and organizations that might want to sponsor an occasional activity on this site, may send an email to info@teamhaverhill. org.
