Parks Commissioner Urges Contractor To Complete Doherty Playground Renovations

Doherty Playground in Charlestown could reopen after renovations as early as next week, according to a press release from Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollak.

Pollak said she had written to the contractor responsible for the job to say that “delays with the project are unacceptable.”

“We are frustrated with the lack of progress in completing the construction and the impact the continued closure of the park has had on the Charlestown community,” she wrote in a letter dated June 20.

Planning meetings for the park renovations were held in Charlestown throughout 2011, and construction got underway in 2012, according to articles in the Patch archives.

Strada Construction Company of Malden was hired to renovate Doherty Playground, which is located between Medford and Bunker Hill streets, off St. Martin Street. Strada was expected to finish safety surfacing on the site the week of July 1, and if all goes as planned, the playground should reopen the week of July 8, according to the press release.

“The Boston Parks Department is committed to reopening the playground as soon as possible and continues to work with Strada to find solutions to expedite the renovations,” Parks Department representatives said in the release. “If the department feels the contractor is failing to proceed in an efficient manner, the department will use the remaining project funds to hire another contractor to complete the remaining work.”

The renovations at Doherty Playground are part of the city’s regular cycle of playground updates and the first at this park since the early 1990s, according to a September 2011 Patch article.