QUINCY – Mayor Thomas Koch wants to spend $4 million to build a playground and new park honoring Navy sailors and shipyard workers.
The funding will add half an acre to the Cleverley Court field near the former Fore River Shipyards and add a soccer field.
On the other side of the city, a small historical park with a naval “lone sailor” statue will be built in Marina Bay, near the Succantum promenade.
If approved, the project would be funded by the city's 6% hotel and motel tax and would not directly impact Quincy taxpayers, according to the city's financial report.
The Finance Committee unanimously approved the request and sent it to the full board for a final vote at a later date.
Joe Shea, president of Granite City Partners, a Quincy firm that provides project management services, outlined plans for both parks at an April 8 City Council finance subcommittee meeting.
More green space will be added to Quincy Point.More space for youth soccer fields
Cleverley Court Field has two 30-foot by 50-foot soccer fields and hosts Quincy Youth Soccer's 10-and-under program in the spring and fall. Of the $4 million request, $2.5 million will go towards expanding these fields and the parking lots that will serve them.
Quincy currently has five public soccer/lacrosse fields, according to the city's webpage.
Most of the funds will go towards the purchase of 570 South St., which is adjacent to the park, and the demolition of the six-lot self-service car wash that currently occupies the property. The project will create a level area for future development, but does not include the addition of new facilities. “It's going to be a different process,” Shea said.
According to a breakdown of the spending plan, $1.8 million will go toward purchasing the car wash and the 1/2 acre on which it will be located, with the city's latest appraised value at $684,400. The appraiser's report said the property was valued at market value by Cusack & Associates based on actual sales of similar properties. It was last sold in 2019 for $1.25 million.
The property is owned by 570 South Street LLC and represented by Matthew J. Nicholls, president of Braintree-based MJ Nicholls Landscaping.
MJ Nicholls Landscaping has bid on multiple public contracts in Quincy. He was awarded a contract worth $2.6 million in 2022 to renovate Mt Wollaston Cemetery. That same year, he won a $426,500 contract to plant trees.
Ward 2 Councilman Richard Ash, who represents Quincy Point, welcomed the city's purchase of the land.
“This car wash is very likely to be acquired by a developer,” Ash said, noting the area's industrial character and lack of green space.
But Quincy's Cleverley Park plans don't end there.
The city is also working to acquire 1.82 acres of vacant land across from Cleverley Court, currently owned by the Massachusetts Department of Water Resources, with plans to “incorporate it into a vision for a larger park area in an area that really needs it.” It is standing. Chris Walker, Koch's chief of staff, said:
The purchase of the parcel is unrelated to the $4 million request. It's unclear how much the acquisition, if any, would cost the city.
Former Squantum Point Factory and Naval Air Station Naval Park
The city will use the remaining $1.5 million of the $4 million request to build the Quincy Navy Park at Squantum on Victory Road between Port 305 and Silos Restaurant in Marina Bay. I plan to.
The park honors the men and women who served in the Navy or who worked at Fore River Shipyard, one of Quincy's two shipyards, and the Victory Destroyer Works, which operated from 1918 to 1920. did. Fore River Shipyard is one of the largest shipyards on the East Coast. At its pinnacle she was founded in 1896 and closed permanently in 1986.
The centerpiece of the park will be the U.S. Navy's “Lone Sailor” memorial, Shea said. Statues of the Lone Sailor are currently installed in 18 locations around the world, including Pearl Harbor and Normandy, France. This is the 19th such event and the first on the New England coast.
“He is approximately 25 years old, a senior petty officer, and rapidly becoming a veteran of the sea,” the U.S. Navy Memorial's description of the lone sailor statue reads.
In addition to the statue, the park will include plaques honoring 11 Quincy alumni who have made significant contributions to the Navy, including six admirals, Shea said.
Admirals include Colin James Kilrane, John Reddy, Giles Steadman, Bartholomew Hogan, Forrest Royal and Stephen Keith.
Other honorees include Francis X. Bellotti, former Massachusetts attorney general and Navy lieutenant; former Quincy Sun editor-in-chief Henry Bosworth, who served in the Navy during World War II; and Henry Bosworth, a former naval aviator. They include Richard Stratton, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and Charles Francis Adams III of the United States. Secretary of the Navy under Herbert Hoover.
One plaque honors Mildred “Millie” Cox, one of the first women to serve in the Marine Corps. Cox is a World War II veteran and she then worked in Quincy Public Schools and Veterans Services while she raised her family in the city. She recently turned 100 years old.
Another highlight of the park is the bell of the USS Quincy. The ship was built at Fore River Shipyards and launched on June 23, 1943. This ship took part in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, where she conducted artillery fire. German artillery battery stationed along Utah Beach.
According to the Navy's web page, the ship was decommissioned in 1954 and sold for scrap 20 years later.
According to Harvard University's International Affairs publication, the USS Quincy also hosted a meeting between President Franklin Roosevelt and Saudi King Abdulaziz, where the United States promised military aid to the monarchy in exchange for access to oil.
What is the total cost of the two projects including interest?
The city is proposing to issue 20-year bonds to fund both projects, which are expected to be paid off in 2044. Including interest, the total expected cost of the bond is $5,761,268.50.
However, the Marina Bay property designated as the park's venue is privately owned and owned by two different companies. The city agreed to pay the company $1.2 million in license fees, more than the $4 million requested. Walker said the money comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and has no direct impact on taxpayers.
One of those companies, Boardwalk Shops Realty LLC, is run by Peter and Thomas O'Connell, state records show. The O'Connell family is well known in the city for developing much of Marina Bay from the 1980s. The O'Connell family also developed Granite Links Golf Course, One Chestnut Place, and other properties.
The second company is Dallas-based Safe Harbor Marinas, LLC.
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