Six months ago, Cheryl Dickinson and several neighbors from the Ellis South End area, including the areas neighborhood association, rallied the community to raise funds to refurbish the Allan Rohan Crite Park on Columbus Avenue.
After getting the blessing of the late artist’s widow, she and a committee began the task.
Now, having been ultra-successful, the Committee has raised $22,000 and is ready to begin the survey and design process. The goal is to be “shovel-ready” so they can access the Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding to do the bulk of the work.
“We have hired the BSC Group landscape architects to complete a variety of City-required tasks,” said Dickinson. “At the completion of the tasks, the land will be shovel-ready and eligible to compete for funding.”
The site survey is to take place this month, with the goal of completing conceptual designs by March. In May, she said they hope to begin holding community meetings to review all of the designs for the park, which will increase by about 3.4 times its current size.
A final design is expected by June, and they are aiming to apply for CPA funding in September.
Dickinson said the BSC Group already has a number of exciting ideas for re-shaping the park, all based on community surveys done last fall.