Proposed renovations to Morse-Kelley Park. Proposed renovations to Dickerman Playground. Lauren C. Ostberg Somerville-at-play, speak now, or forever hold your peace. The third public review and comment period on the proposed renovations at the Morse-Kelley and Dickerman Playgrounds will close on April 13. After that, the playground designs will the finalized. Both parks are located in the Spring Hill area of Ward 3. Proposed renovations to Morse-Kelley Park will enhance its active character, while adding some green spaces. Proposed additions to Morse-Kelley include the development of a tot-lot, the addition of a community garden and skateboard-friendly surfaces. "It's a very active park," said Ellen Schnieder, Somerville's Landscape Project Manager. "We're trying to preserve that, and just add a few more activities." The basketball and stick-ball courts, a focal point of the parks, will be updated but relatively unaltered. A skate-able bench, staircase and rails add elements of skate-park without changing the park's character as a whole. The existing wall will become a 6ft-high lateral climbing wall, with forty feet of horizontal length to scramble across. Members of the public who previously commented on this park cited the need for a toddler play area and for increased green space. The current design plan includes a community garden and a tot-lot, complete with slides and a small playhouse.

Renovations to Dickerman Playground are intended to make it greener and more accessible. A paved route is designed for wheelchair users. Proposed design plans include the installation of a plant bed between the park's two levels, the removal or relocation of several boulders and the creation of a tai-chi/yoga area. The "splash pad," a water-play area for children, will be updated, and rubber mats throughout the park will alter its asphalt appearance.

They will also refurbish the existing swing set and existing fences, and add a new chain-link fence and several benches. Based on the community's expressed interest in a bocce ball court, one has been built into the park.

Somerville residents near both parks expressed concerns about speeding on Craigie Street, between Somerville Avenue and Summer Street. After conducting a study of the area, recommended adding curb extensions to calm traffic. Curb extensions slow traffic by narrowing streets.

This renovation process began in Spring 2009, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Somerville a Community Development Block Grant for this and other City projects. Somerville selected CBA Development Architects. Two community meeting and public comment periods, in Fall 2009 and Winter 2009, respectively, have already passed.

The "preferred" designs, which are now open for comment, were discussed at a third public meeting on March 15 and based on feedback from the comment period ending January 10, 2010.

Any Somerville residents with comments about the proposed designs should contact Ellen Schnieder, Landscape Project Manager, at (617) 625-6600 or at eschneider@somervillema.gov. The designs and related material, including the March 15 presentation, are available at City Hall, or online.