NORTHAMPTON — Downtown was bustling Tuesday afternoon. Live music flowed from a cafe, traffic swelled and residents strolled the sidewalks. But something was missing.
People passing by peered into a chain-link fence, taking stock of the city’s effort to improve the missing piece: Pulaski Park.
The wait is almost over for those yearning to use Pulaski Park. The one-acre downtown space that closed some eight months ago will reopen with a ceremony at 5 p.m. July 13.
“People have been looking at it longingly, I’ve been looking at it longingly,” Mayor David J. Narkewicz said by telephone Tuesday evening, laughing. “I can’t wait for people to actually see it. I think the transformation is going to be breathtaking for people.”
The ceremony will include local and state officials and incorporate live music, Narkewicz said.
“It’s a celebration of the completion of phase one and the official opening to residents of Northampton and visitors beyond,” Narkewicz said. “The fence will be coming down that day. The park is getting really close to completion.”
The project is funded through $1,450,000 in city Community Preservation Act funds and a $400,000 Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant from the state, according to the city’s website.
Passersby interviewed as they looked through the fence Tuesday afternoon were generally pleased with the new design, though some hope to see more space where children can play when the first phase of the project is revealed in the coming weeks.
“It looks more thoughtfully and sustainably designed,” said Mohammed Alam, of Northampton. “It was horrible before, there wasn’t much light, the layout was weird and it wasn’t very family oriented … We need a cool park in town.”
Alam said there “was not much to do” at the park, which was last renovated in 1976. He occasionally stopped by with his teenage daughters when they were young, but it was never a place they really enjoyed.
Alam said he is pleased by the design’s incorporation of local plants and new lighting and seating. A well-lit park is a safer park, Alam said.
“I love these lights. They look like a family gathering in California in the evenings,” Alam said, pointing toward the five strands that span the front portion of the park.
Currently, the lights span a large, open lot. In the coming weeks, Narkewicz said cafe tables and chairs will be installed as one of the final touches to the first-phase design.
“It’s a nice polish,” agreed Dustin Cook of Northampton, 30. “And it’s about time they opened it.”
Cook, stopping to look through the chain-link fence with two friends, said he looks forward to the park’s reopening. Removing the fence will make walking through downtown easier, he said.
Cook plans to frequent the space for planned events and casual visits to drink coffee or eat lunch.
“You can pop in, grab a coffee and sit down,” said Cook. “Everyone can sit and relax, people can really connect.”
With the new lighting and seating, Cook said he could imagine the park as a great place for food trucks to visit.
Evelyn Harris, 65, of Easthampton, said she appreciates the city adding more greenery, but worries there will not be enough space for children to play.
“It’s always a great thing to create more green space,” said Evelyn Harris, 65, of Easthampton. “But I can’t see anything for kids in there. When you redo a park, it is important to include a children’s area.”
According to Narkewicz, a larger children’s play area to replace the “tot-lot” plastic slide and climbing structure that previously existed was a priority for the city. The new children’s play area, being built toward the rear of the park, will incorporate natural elements like tree stumps and Goshen stone.
“It is the result of a lengthy design process using feedback from a lot of parents with children,” Narkewicz said. “That was one of the key pieces of feedback. We want it to be a park where families can bring their kids.”
Ellen LaFleche, 62, of Northampton, was on the fence about the park’s new landscaping. As someone who takes regular walks downtown, LaFleche said she has watched the design evolve over the past few months. LaFleche said she is disappointed trees were removed during the renovation, reducing shade in the park.
“I can see where it’s aesthetically pleasing, but I keep getting the impression there is so little grass,” said LaFleche. “But I reserve judgment because it isn’t finished and I don’t know how it will look once the plants start blooming.”
The play area and a larger, grassy lawn are hard to see from Main Street, the mayor said, so he posted photos of the renovation to his Twitter account.
The new design “includes a lot more green and nature,” the mayor said, noting the lawn, children’s play area and water features that are a “nod to the former Mill River.”
LaFleche, who raised her daughter in Northampton, said she visited the park for decades. There were cracks in the pavement and things that needed to be fixed, she said, but she never felt the need for a complete overhaul of the space.
“I raised my daughter here, we came all the time and it was fine,” she said.
For Lonnie Kaufman, 54, of Northampton, the renovation seems like a way to revive an underused park.
“It is going to be a beautiful park,” Kaufman said. “It never seemed to be used unless it was for a planned event. Now, I think it will be a hangout place for planned events as well as grabbing coffee.”
Kaufman said he is not upset that the renovation included the removal of the tree the city used to string with lights during the holiday season.
“They did a wonderful job with the landscaping. It doesn’t bother me they moved” the holiday lighting to a different tree at the back of the park, Kaufman said.