By Max Sullivan

After months of struggling, outreach group Groundwork Somerville finally made progress in getting people living in Clarendon Hill involved in the North Street Park renovations, drawing around 50 people to Friday night’s meeting.

Residents of Clarendon Hill poured into the basement of the project’s 268 Rear Powderhouse Blvd. Friday night to discuss the plans for North Street Park’s new design, a park that lies directly adjacent to the project. People brought their families to enjoy a free meal before talking about the changes to the park, as well as identifying the best way to get people from Clarendon to come out to these meetings.

“How do we get that communication,” Arn Franzen, Director of Parks and Open Space, asked those present that night. “How do we get you to these meetings?”

The answer: word of mouth. Groundwork Somerville had placed flyers at every house within a close radius of the park, as well as many telephone poles nearby, but when asked what had really drawn them out that night, an overwhelming majority of people said that they heard about the meeting from a friend.

Virtually no residents from Clarendon Hill attended the previous three meetings, the first one being in May of this year. While Clarendon Hill contains one of the most concentrated communities of blacks and Hispanics in Somerville, barely any minorities were present to give their thoughts. The apparent of lack of enthusiasm by the community for a park sitting so close by was frustrating to Groundwork Somerville workers.

“Having a meeting with (only) nine white people, and half of them work at the city,” said Chris Mancini, Executive Director at Groundwork Somerville, “That is what we would consider not a successful meeting.”

“This is (one of the) most dense community of color here in Somerville, right?” said Ronald Leaks, Groundwork Someville’s Community Organizer. “You have a public meeting, you see not one black head in there… don’t you look at it like, ‘Oh hey, nobody came’?”

With a strong representative body for Clarendon Hill finally present on Friday night, though, Groundwork Somerville learned that those living in the project do, in fact, have something to say. People voiced their concerns and interests for the park. Ideas ranged from full court basketball to water sprinklers. The people of Clarendon Hill were enthusiastic, and Groundwork Somerville saw the meeting as a success.

“I see the people empowered,” said Leaks. “And that was the goal in the first place.”

With an idea of how to reach this community, Groundwork Somerville hopes to effectively convince it that their voice is necessary for city officials to move forward.

“The city wants feedback,” said Mancini. “They don’t want to make a park that people hate. Their goal is to make a great park that as many people as possible are going to use and love, so it’s not a success to them (if the community isn’t involved).”

The tentative park plans as of now would increase North Street Park’s size by nearly 50% and would include better lighting and security, as well as half court basketball, a water spray feature, new tables and play features for toddlers and older children.

The final plans will be revealed at the next community meeting in February. The plans in their current state are viewable at www.somervillema.gov. A sign will also be placed in the park in the near future that displays these plans, with a mailbox nearby for people to send in their thoughts. Ideas can also be sent via email to Director of Parks and Open Space Arn Franzen at AFranzen@somervillema.gov.