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The Black Rock Neighborhood Revitalization Zone board secured $10,000 in federal block funding to spruce up the grassy area behind Stop & Shop, adding benches, grills and trash receptacles to an area that had been a gathering space for homeless people.
“It should be completed by next summer,” said Stephanie Barnes, the group’s president.
The federal grant required the money be used in the area between Ellsworth Street and the I-95 overpass to the east, so the NRZ chose the Wordin Avenue site, Barnes said. Local architect David Barbour is heading up the team move plans forward.
The new park is just across the street from the new Geraldine Clayton Magnet Academy, a K-8 school slated to open in January, as well as the Cal Ripken Jr. baseball field and a newer playground.
The small park is a boon for that end of the neighborhood, especially the residents of P.T. Barnum Apartments just across the street, said state Sen. Steve Stafstrom, who attended a recent meeting on the park and other plans the NRZ is considering.
“It’s a public place where people can come together,” Barnes said.
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