New Downtown Park Fills Vacant Lot

On Tuesday night, former Marlborough Mayor Michael Hogan stepped to the microphone during a School Committee meeting to criticize city leaders for a "missed opportunity" in the nearly approved fiscal year 2013 budget. 

Hogan's bottom line: The city needs to do and spend more to help make Marlborough more attractive, especially to young families who can help Marlborough grow.  

"The last time we opened a new park was before I left office in 2004," he said.  

That essentially changed yesterday when the announced that landscapers had transformed the vacant lot at 167 Main St. into a pocket park with picnic tables, plantings and mulch.  

The Main Street property has been vacant since 2010, when a restaurant fire destroyed a building that sat there. The MEDC  said it was working with Marlborough Savings Bank to develop the park, at least until the parcel can be redeveloped. 

“I am very pleased with what the MEDC and Marlborough Savings Bank have been able to achieve together,”  Mayor Arthur Vigeant said in a statement Thursday. “With the assistance of my partners on the City Council, we are taking an underperforming asset and turning it into an area that will beautify this corridor of the city.”

While the park has been in the works for a while--a ribbon cutting is scheduled for early June--the timing of the announcement makes it appear Hogan's words were heard loud and clear. 

What do you think? Was it a coincidence that the park was announced shortly after Hogan's comments? Will you use the new downtown park? Tell us in the comments.