Beverly Moraine Farm 'Opening Day' Set For This Week

BEVERLY, MA — A grand re-opening of the newly refurbished Moraine Farm in Beverly will be held this coming week to showcase the accessibility improvements for city residents through Community Preservation Act funding.

The work on the farm includes 90 new garden plots and three accessible beds, the relocation of the city's community garden to the property, 10 resident-only parking spaces, a new entrance at Conant Street and trails that connect to the J.C. Phillips Nature Preserve.

The ribbon cutting is set for Thursday at 1 p.m.

"The gardeners are already out there," Mayor Mike Cahill noted at a recent City Council presentation. "They kind of, in their own minds, cut the ribbon when they first put the shovel in ground, or hoe in ground."

Cahill said the city committed about $1 million in CPA funds — which are generated through a property tax surcharge and include state matching funds for open space, historic preservation and housing projects.

He said still pending is the state conservation restriction on the property — which would prevent it from being developed beyond its current use in perpetuity — but that he anticipates that coming through soon, at which time payment will be made to the Trustees of Reservation.

The ribbon cutting will include remarks from Cahill and Trustees CEO and President Katie Theoharides. Parking will be available in the farm lot as well as the Birch Plains Field parking lot across the street.