Some recent improvements to Stage Fort Park, including to the cannons area and the Lucy Davis Pathway, were highlighted in addition to the groundbreaking for the Children’s Playground improvements at the Gloucester Rotary Club’s luncheon at the park’s Visitor Center on Tuesday.
Mayor Greg Verga said on Monday he had met with Public Works Director Mike Hale and was told the fort area project was in the punch list stage.
“It should be R.T.G,” the mayor said in an interview in City Hall. “Ready to go.” The mayor also toured the area Tuesday after the playground groundbreaking ceremony.
A visit to the area showed improvements including new paths, wooden fencing, and a new stone patio with gray brick paving. The fort area’s restored cannons have yet to be reinstalled. The path to and from the Visitor Welcoming Center was also regraded to make it handicap accessible.
During the Rotary Club luncheon, state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, congratulated Verga “on all of Stage Fort Park because I hear people all the time just saying from the addition to the Vietnam Memorial, to the street hockey park, to the playground to Tablet Rock, everything’s looking good around here.”
A Rotarian mentioned the park’s new sidewalk along Hough Avenue.
“And not only the sidewalk but the maroon sidewalk,” said Ferrante about the park’s asphalt sidewalk which sports a maroon color to help differentiate it from the roadway. Hough Avenue was resurfaced this spring in a project that included the widening of the sidewalk on the east/southeast side of the road. A crew could be seen Tuesday planting a line of new trees in the grass adjacent to the sidewalk.
Ferrante said she planned to visit the improvements to the cannons area “because I heard it’s something to see.”
The Stage Fort Park Cannons Improvements project aimed to enhance accessibility from the Visitors Welcoming Center and the Lucy Davis Pathway to the fort area. Work included the regrading of the mounds between the cannons, among other things. The project started this past spring and for a time the fort area was blocked off during construction. That is no longer the case. The project was expected to wrap up by July and cost more than $500,000. The project was funded in part by $50,000 in Community Preservation Act funding from the city.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714,or at eforman@northofboston.com.