City officials and members of the general public celebrated the reopening of the Healey School Tot-Lot last week.

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

The Public Space and Urban Forestry Division of the City of Somerville hosted a ribbon cutting on Thursday. The occasion: the opening of a renovated Healey School Tot-Lot.

The ceremony was attended by Mayor of Somerville Joseph Curtatone, a handful of city government members, and members of the public.

The Tot-Lot had previously been open, but it has gone through a plethora of renovations including updated playsets. Updates have been in the works since September 2020, and the ribbon cutting is the final stage of this process.

After the ribbon cutting, Mayor Curtatone answered some questions regarding the renovated Tot-Lot and spoke of the significance of the re-opening and its advancement of equality in Somerville. “It was really about equity and community and this is a small but powerful example of everyone’s hands having something to do and forwarding the values of the community and equity,” Curtatone said.

In addition, Curtatone talked about the therapeutic effects that the opening of a new park has on the community after a year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think, just listen to those sounds that are here behind us, that we haven’t heard in what it feels like forever because of COVID and seeing the smiles. Ina way it serves an important medicinal healing purpose, so it’s great. There’s nothing like opening a park to get a sense of the community,” Curtatone said.

With this being his last year in a four term, nearly 18-year tenure, Curtatone spoke of the future plans for these types of openings, with an added emphasis on the Somerville community’s role in these types of projects. “I have the privilege of being mayor now, but I am leading on the community’s values. These are not my ideas, these are the community’s values and ideas,” Curtatone said. “Anything we do is the product of many hands.”