Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 1 Alderman Maureen Bastardi invite all interested community members to the second in a series of discussions to determine design plans for the new Symphony Park, to be constructed on the vacant lot a the intersection of Pearl and Pinckney Streets in 2014. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Bryant Manor, 75 Myrtle St. An initial community meeting was held in July 2013 to discuss the vision for the vacant lot on Pearl and Florence Streets and to gather information for the State’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA).

The second community meeting will build on that discussion and include preliminary design ideas generated by GroundView, a Somerville landscape architecture firm who recently completed renovations to the city’s Chuckie Harris Park (a formerly vacant lot) on Cross Street East.

Earlier this month, the city received a $400,000 Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant award. This grant will enable the leveraging of an additional $225,000 of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, creating $625,000 to construct the new park.

The City of Somerville acquired the lot at the corner of Pearl and Pinckney Streets in 2011.  From 1853 until the City’s acquisition, it was the site of the Conant-Hadley House.  The Conant family has lived in Somerville since the 1700s and the Hadleys led the Somerville Public School System’s music program for more than 60 years. Two of the Hadley brothers became very important in American music. Arthur Hadley was lead cellist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Henry Hadley began the Berkshire Symphonic Festival at Tanglewood and founded the National Association for American Composers and Conductors in 1933. To honor their musical legacy, the park will be named Symphony Park.

“With the SomerVision plan, the community has tasked us with the creation of 125 acres of new public green space by 2020 and every acre matters. This will be one of our smaller parks, but the benefits the community can reap from transforming even just a corner lot into quality green space should not be underestimated,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “Pocket parks like this can draw the community out of their homes and into our public living rooms where our kids can play, neighbors can come together and we can all simply enjoy the natural scenery.”

For more information on Symphony Park, and for updates during construction, visit the Symphony Park page on the city website.