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On August 11, the design stage of renovations to Ringer Park (85 Allston St) was completed and the project has progressed to the bidding period.

Increasing accessibility and safety is a priority of the renovations. The design plans include regrading and widening the park’s entrances and pathways to become more wheelchair accessible. Additional lighting will be installed for the intent of improving safety and circulation. Dead, dying, and diseased trees will be removed.

In addition, a dog park will be constructed in the park’s current playground. A new playground with a splash pad will be installed where the outfield of the park’s old baseball field is. 

Located off of Allston Street and Gordon Street, Ringer Park is the backyard of several residential properties, the West End House Boys and Girls Club, and Jackson Mann Community Center.

“It’s a pretty diverse landscape typology for a park in Boston,” says Nelle Ward, project manager at Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD). “It’s got a public gathering space. It’s got sports amenities. It’s got passive lawn use, and then it has other wilderness components.”

“You can really get a bunch of different types of park experiences in this park in a very small area,” Ward adds.

Ward hopes that these renovations could also serve the Boston Center for Youth and Families (BCYF) at the Jackson Mann. She envisions that the playground could be both a community space and a recess space for kids if the Jackson Mann K-8 School, which closed in 2022, opens again.

Ringer Park’s design plan, led by Boston-based Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture, was completed on August 11. The project is now up for bid, which means the City of Boston has posted construction drawings publicly and is inviting construction contractors to submit bids to carry out the design. Bids will close on August 28, at which point city officials will award the contract to the lowest bidder. 

If bids come in higher than what was allocated by BPRD for the project, there would be a delay in initiating construction. Otherwise, Ward foresees that construction will proceed quickly. “If all goes according to plan, construction will begin within the next two months,” says Ward.

“We have a park grant that has spending stipulations tied to it, and so the construction needs to be complete next spring and summer,” adds Ward, referring to $500,000 acquired from Massachusetts’ Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities Grant. “We hope that construction will last for about a year.”

Ringer Park’s renovations also received $1,700,000 in capital funding from the City of Boston, $900,000 from the Harvard-Allston Public Realm Flexible Fund, $107,000 in mitigation funding from Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), and $35,000 via a state earmark.

During construction, Ringer Park will be closed to the public and construction fences will be set up around the park.

The project is still soliciting community input. On August 19, BPRD is hosting a virtual community meeting on tree removal in Ringer Park. Community members can register here. ■