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Brown School park design and open-space reserve discussed as demolition, financing continue
Summary
City presenter outlined schematic goals for the Brown School rear-yard park and described demolition delays tied to asbestos abatement; the site will house parking for a 29-unit affordable housing project by developer Zeta, with construction targeted around 2028 and close coordination with neighborhood input required. Committee also heard an annual open-space reserve fund presentation.
The committee heard two related items: a routine request to add funds to the city's open-space reserve and a presentation on schematic design and timing for the Brown School park area adjacent to a proposed 29-unit affordable-housing redevelopment.
Chair reviewed the open-space reserve fund as a savings account for future land acquisition and conservation, reporting the reserve balance is "just shy of a million dollars" and that the account is typically tapped on a project-specific basis after committee recommendation and City Council approval.
Andy, the city presenter for the Brown School outdoor-space design, said demolition of the school gym is underway but has been slowed by higher-than-expected asbestos abatement work. "We ran into more asbestos than we thought," he said, adding that abatement protocols lengthened the demolition timeline but posed no public-safety threat. He told the committee demolition work should finish in roughly one and a half to two months.
Andy described the site layout: the historic schoolhouse will be preserved, a surplus parcel will accommodate parking for the adjacent affordable-housing redevelopment, and the existing playground is expected to remain. He said park improvements are likely to include softer landscaping and smaller-scale active uses but not large regulation sports fields; he emphasized design trade-offs related to fire-department access that will limit certain plantings.
On timing, Andy said the housing developer, Zeta, is still finalizing financing and that construction and occupancy are being targeted around 2028. He urged early neighborhood input and schematic plans so park improvements can be timed and coordinated with demolition and housing construction to avoid rework.
The committee received the presentations; no final design or funding decisions for the park were made at this meeting. The chair noted that the committee will wrestle with approximately $316,000 in outstanding requests versus available CPA funds at its Feb. 19 deliberations and asked members to review updated materials posted online.
Next steps: neighborhood outreach and schematic design work for the park, continued coordination with the housing developer and timing of the trust and CPA funding decisions at the Feb. 19 deliberations.
