Mayor Marty Walsh announced at the State of the City Address on January 19th held at the Boston Symphony Orchestra that the City would invest $1 million into renovating Ramsay Park on the border of the South End and Roxbury. The money will be used to upgrade the tennis and basketball courts and the playground and also to add a water feature and more to the park.
It started in the snowy winter months of 2015 when area stakeholders gathered together in St. Augustine and St. Martin's Church basement to talk about current conditions of the park and what could be done to bring positive activity to Ramsay Park. Many children who lived right next to the park were not allowed by their parents to play there due to prior gun violence and current drug and alcohol use. Representatives from area non-profits, the D4 police, city and state officials, local churches and tenant associations developed a pages long list of activities big and small that would get children and families out to the park and hopefully deter the more negative behavior.
Over the months more people joined the meetings and ideas turned into action. A group signed up for Boston Shines in April and organized a celebration afterwards. Then in the summer twice-weekly tennis and basketball clinics were held in the evenings. There were more cleanup days and barbeques with music. A group of teens painted a peace mural on the ground where there was once a fountain and decorated tiles to hang on a deteriorating chain-link fence. In the fall volunteers raked leaves and planted daffodil bulbs. And as the fall turned to winter there continued to be talk of adding a flag football league and volleyball for girls. An artist received a grant for a dance performance in the summer 2016.
The community surrounding Ramsay Park has come together around this common space to make a change and the City noticed and heard. Mayor Walsh thanked the B. Peace for Jorge teen organizers from St. Stephen's Church Youth Programs for their work and there are many more people and groups that also deserve applause. The Community Service Officers from the D4 police have been at every event to make sure participants feel safe and to be part of organizing. The Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin has hosted many meetings and events. Vibrant Boston, run out of the new Lenox/Camden youth and family center organized summer camp activities in Ramsay and made sure that youth and families attended every event. Teens from Youth Build Designery across the street from the park created a modular Ramsay so that the public can create their own design of the park. Northeastern University helped fund summer youth jobs, sponsored a movie night and sent volunteers from their facilities department to clean and fix things twice in 2015. South End Neighborhood Church, The Black Ministerial Alliance, NAFI, St. Cyprian Church, The Jewish Community Relations Council, Tropical Foods, Pizzatalia, Roxbury Youth Soccer all helped too. There are so many other individuals, elected officials, city departments and organizations to thank, but the point is to show that when a community comes together they really can make a positive change.
"We are so grateful that the City of Boston is making these funds possible to rejuvenate this integral space," said Jenny Effron, Executive Director of Washington Gateway Main Street. "Watching various groups from within the community band together to promote a positive change at Ramsay Park has been inspiring, and we are all looking forward to contributing to the future vision of this great park."
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