Nunzio Dimarca Park

For over 15 years, Groundwork Lawrence (GWL) worked in partnership with residents, the City of Lawrence, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and with community partners to establish a park at the Ferrous Site. The Ferrous Site is located at the confluence of the Merrimack and Spicket Rivers in the North Canal National Historic District. The North Canal and the lower locks waterfall (relics from Lawrence’s industrialization) form the site’s northern boundary. Constructed in 1845, this infrastructure, which has helped provide the water that powered the mills, was spread out over sixty-acres and supported the growth of Lawrence. Prior to construction, the site was comprised of a large sand castings pile from a former foundry that had been colonized over the past 20 years with successional vegetation. This sand provided a wonderful opportunity to explore landform, remediation and restoration. With support from the Commonwealth’s Signature Urban Parks program, the Ferrous Site was restored to realize its tremendous ecological, historic and scenic potential. The City of Lawrence, the Federal Government, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, adjacent property owners, and most importantly, the community, had identified redevelopment of the Ferrous Site as a top priority. It supports city, state, and Federal redevelopment and economic initiatives that have been implemented over the past three decades to create a new gateway to Lawrence’s North Canal District and downtown. More importantly it supports efforts to transform the entire North Canal mill district into a mixed use, healthy, thriving transit oriented development. Community outreach for the project began in the late 1990s and gained momentum in 2002 when GWL, Lawrence CommunityWorks, and the City of Lawrence joined forces to launch the Reviviendo Gateway Initiative. At the same time the state implemented its Urban River Visions program in Lawrence, which helped the community develop the concept for the Spicket River Greenway with the Ferrous Site serving as the Greenway’s capstone.