Salem To Waive Park Permit Fees For Citywide Parks Days

SALEM, MA — Salem will celebrate Parks Days this weekend, inviting residents to visit and reconnect with the city's more than 40 public parks as part of the Salem 400+ quadricentennial celebration.

Park permit fees will be waived for the weekend.

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Parks Days is also meant to showcase the Salem Signature Parks Initiative — a multi-year effort to improve Salem's most heavily used parks and open spaces. That work addressed accessibility, historic features and park upgrades aimed at responding to the effects of climate change and helping keep those spaces usable for future generations of residents.

While the Signature Parks Initiative centered on the city's busiest parks, officials said Parks Days is intended as a celebration of community and all Salem green spaces. The city is encouraging residents to spend time in their local parks and use the weekend to gather with family, neighbors and community groups.

"Our parks are where Salem comes together — where families gather, kids play, and neighbors become friends," Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. "As we celebrate over 400 years of Salem, there's no better way to honor that legacy and look to the future than by celebrating in the green spaces that bring us together every day."

Residents are encouraged to picnic, play games or host a block party in their own neighborhood park. The waiver of permit fees for the weekend is intended to make those gatherings easier to organize.

Signature Parks include Forest River Park, a 29-acre park established in 1907 that was recently renovated with new pools, a splash pad, accessible trails and a restored bathhouse.

Palmer Cove Park, established in 1913 in the Point neighborhood, is receiving a new multi-use field along with improved lighting and pathways.

The list also includes Salem Common, the historic green space dating to 1667, where restoration of the 1926 bandstand and Washington Arch is ongoing.

At Salem Willows, a 35-acre seaside park established in 1858, the city said pier restoration and trail and parking upgrades are underway.

Winter Island, a 45-acre maritime park that is home to Fort Pickering, is the subject of erosion studies ahead of future improvements.