The memory of Deanna Cremin was honored on Saturday as friends, family, and others gathered at the newly renovated park for its official dedication ceremony. ~Photo by Chris Pedersen

By Donald Norton

A crowd of over 200 family, friends and residents showed up this past Saturday morning at the old Otis Street Park for the dedication of the newly renovated Deanna Cremin Playground.

It was a cold drizzly day, but it did not matter to the attendees who were excited with the park that has been totally renovated and has a unique design to it, and renamed in honor of Cremin.

The Somerville native was murdered back in 1992. She was just seventeen, full of life and looking forward to a wonderful future, when her life was cut short and to this day the culprit has never been found.

A vigil every year is held by her family to keep the memory alive so that one day the person responsible for her death might be brought to justice.

The family has been looking forward to the opening of this park and what it means to have it named in Deanna’s honor. It is just another way the community can come together and keep her memory alive.

Her mother and other relatives were all present to witness dedication ceremonies carried out by Mayor Joe Curtatone and Alderman Matt McLaughlin, who both worked hard to get the project done.

The festivities began with a performance by the Sunsetters, who sang for the crowd as it grew until it was time for the ceremony to begin.

The park sits at the corner of Otis and Dana Streets, just off McGrath Highway at the bottom of the footbridge connecting one end of Otis Street to the other half.

The park has many features that a lot of families with young kids can go and enjoy themselves for a long time to come, such as a musical chimes set that the kids can play with and various slides and places to climb while the parents can sit and enjoy the park.

Deanna’s mother, Katherine Cremin, was so pleased with the design and the beautiful way the park came out. She was beaming throughout the entire ceremony and was very grateful to the city officials for working towards having this day in memory of her daughter.

The reward for any information leading to the identification of Deanna’s murderer has been posted and is set at $70,000. People are asked to call Somerville Police if they have any pertinent information.

~Photos by Donald Norton