NORTHAMPTON — Trinity Row Park, the small triangular patch that greets visitors traveling north on Route 9 to the village of Florence, is getting a facelift.
Workers from the Northampton Department of Public Works were spreading crushed brick there on Tuesday, creating a foundation for pavers that will surround the park’s fountain.
“It’s the entrance to Florence. We want it to be welcoming,” David Alvord, chairman of the Florence Mercantile, said. “It’s also a public park that wasn’t getting used because it wasn’t that attractive.”
Soon, it will be.
Located between Route 9, South Main Street and Trinity Row in Florence, the park is home to the Florence welcome sign, a flagpole, a Northampton firemen’s memorial and a fountain that was in disrepair until last year.
The park’s facelift has been in the works since Florence resident and former city councilor Gene Tacy began to raise funds to rebuild the fountain in the park by selling “Florence 01062” (the Florence zipcode) T-shirts and sweatshirts in local stores.
In 2015, the Florence Mercantile, which is the business group of the Florence Civic and Business Association, was approached to continue collecting funds to put toward the park. Alvord explained that the Florence Mercantile took over the project and combined various funds to make the rebuild of the fountain possible. In addition to the funds initially raised by Tacy, many local businesses and private donors also contributed.
“The community came together because Gene Tacy kickstarted the whole thing, he was instrumental in starting the project,” Bill Hogan, president of the Florence Civic and Business Association, said. “I think it’s great. That’s part of living and doing business here. That’s why you do business and live in a community like this.”
The Florence Mercantile raised and donated $39,348 to the Northampton City Council in August 2015 to rebuild the fountain, and later an additional $2,350 to finish the project. The original historic fountain had to be knocked down, but many of the original stones were repurposed in the new fountain design.
“What we love about the Civic and Business Association is that these funds are all Florence oriented, from small donations to big donations,” Alvord said.
In addition to the funds that were donated, many community members and local businesses have donated time and materials to help revamp Trinity Row Park. A flagpole was reclaimed from the old Kollmorgen Company in Northampton by the Florence Civic and Business Association and installed with donated time and materials.
Hogan also emphasized how important the assistance of the Northampton City Council has been, from getting the new flagpole approved to paying for the final stages of the park’s design that are being installed now, including the brick pavers and landscaping touches. Even the design of the fountain was drawn up by a community member who donated his time.
Barry and Nonie Bouthilette bought their house on Trinity Row, which overlooks park, from Nonie’s parents 24 years ago. Nonie has lived in the house since the mid-1950s. Their son, Nick Bouthilette, was the engineer who donated his time to design the new fountain.
“When I was a kid, the fountain would run all of the time,” Nonie Bouthilette said. “It really has not worked much in the last 24 years.” Now, she said, she sees lots of kids over at the fountain on hot days. “I think people see it more, notice it’s a park.”
“When I first started dating Nonie we used to play football in the park,” Barry Bouthilette added. “So it’s nice to see the park going through a revival.”
In addition to the brick pathway, three new park benches will be purchased and installed around the fountain by the Florence Mercantile. The benches and other aspects of the park are to be dedicated to local people who have made sizable donations to the project. One is Bill Hogan’s grandfather.
“My grandfather loved Florence, was from Florence and always ended up back in Florence when his work took him elsewhere,” Hogan said. “We just felt like it was appropriate to have something that stood in town in his honor.”