Brookline Residents Petition To Keep Griggs Park Open During Renovations

BROOKLINE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Brookline residents are calling on the town to keep parts of a beloved park open during a massive renovation.

Griggs Park is nestled into a small community in Brookline, but it's a hotspot for local dog owners and young parents. Ezra Newman and Katie Rimey take their dog Annie to the park every day, which is why they're concerned about a new plan to close the park completely for a year or more during upcoming renovations. Eventually, Newman decided to take action.

"I kept coming to the park, and people were talking about the plans for renovation," Newman said. "I kept hearing them say over and over, 'I wish they would just like not close the whole thing' or 'we should start a petition' and eventually I was like, I'm a person that can start a petition."

He started the Save Griggs Park campaign, which includes a petition outlining what concerned parkgoers want to see from the town. Their main request is for the town to switch from closing the park completely to instead closing it in phases, so parts of the park will still be available during construction.

"For example, if they're going to replace the playground equipment, they could close down the play structure area and leave the other half of the park open for people to keep using the park," Newman said.

So far, nearly 200 people have signed the petition in only a few days. Rimey said they've had some communication with the town about changing the construction plan before they created the petition.

"They didn't seem like they thought it was impossible," Rimey said. "They said it's up to the contractor. We figure they could select a contractor who will keep the park open for as long as possible."

WBZ NewsRadio has reached out to the Town of Brookline for comment. Part of her concern is that several other local parks were closed for a long time during renovations.

"It just seems like a very long time, especially since people use it every day," Rimey said.

WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.