If you visit the Arlington neighborhood in Lawrence – on the north side of the Merrimack River close to the Methuen border – you will notice a pop of color and greenery at the intersection of Bennington Street and Lawrence Street. The Lawrence Pa’Lante, a project lead by Groundwork Lawrence, has partnered with the City of Lawrence to take a triangle of asphalt and turn it into a pop-up park. The site once held underground storage tanks and was previously being used as informal parking. Its qualification as a Brownfields property will allow the assessment and cleanup of these previous uses, ensuring the park is safe and functional. The project manager of the transformation is Eddie Rosa, who grew up in the neighborhood, and believes this is a vital improvement for the residents. Eddie and his team are working with the community to create a greener vision for the site.

Colorful planters with trees brighten and cool the space.

The Merrimack Valley Transportation Program supported Lawrence Pa’Lante on this project by advocating for better pedestrian and bicycle access in the city. MVPC staff also cultivated several design precedents and helped stakeholders imagine the potential uses of the Bennington Triangle. This effort advances MVPC Transportation’s goal of creating an Active Transportation Network throughout the region.

The Bennington Triangle was used as an informal parking lot before the transformation.

Lawrence Pa’Lante’s effort is “… to create more affordable, safer, and cooler transportation options for residents that improve health, quality of life, and help increase resident’s resilience to the impacts of extreme heat” (Lawrence Pa’Lante). The Bennington Triangle project combats the increasing risks of the urban heat island effect facing the neighborhood by adding trees for shade and covering the asphalt with natural materials. It is still too early to tell what the permanent future of the site will look like, but the pop-up certainly achieves Pa’Lante’s goals.

People gathering in the new space and take pictures in front of the new MeVa bus.

The Groundwork Lawrence team put in an incredible effort to get the pop-up project in place for a community event on October 15 that featured a food truck, the new MeVa buses, information about Lawrence Pa’Lante, and great vibes. Since the event, there have been many accounts of people sitting at picnic tables, kids climbing on the bales of hay, and even a traffic calming effect as cars slow down to see what is going on. This project is a great example of what can happen when communities recognize the benefits of creating spaces for people to come together. In a neighborhood that has been impacted by the presence of cars – the asphalt they drive on and the space that they take up – this project lends a bright, green vision for the future.