Brownfield to Greenfield Spicket River Greenway
The Spicket River is a 3-mile tributary of the Merrimack River flowing through Lawrence’s most distressed environmental justice neighborhoods. Once the main source of energy for mills and industry perched along the river’s edge, the Spicket River had faced years of neglect, deferred maintenance, and illegal dumping; additionally, several sites along the river were contaminated and/or underutilized. In 2002, Groundwork Lawrence facilitated a community planning process that established the vision for an “emerald bracelet” of trees, parks, and habitat that would connect people and places. In the years since, GW Lawrence has championed a decade-long campaign to clean up and reclaim this waterway for recreation, waterfront access, and multi-modal transit.
What is envisioned for this Greenway is a continuous 3-mile greenway trail for pedestrians and cyclists connecting a series of active and passive parks featuring playgrounds, playing fields, community gardens, outdoor classrooms, natural habitats, and communal gathering spaces.
The trail is in final design phase, and will be put out to bid for construction in early 2012, with construction hopefully completed by June 2012.
GW Lawrence’s role in this project has been instrumental as project catalyst, and continues to be critical with a role in fundraising, planning, design and construction management, stewardship development, community education, and partnership development.
Partners in this project include the City of Lawrence, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, EPA, Lawrence Community Works, Arlington Community Trabajando, Urban Ecology Institute, Mass Audubon, New Balance, as well as many local businesses. For more information about the project, click here.