Latest Design Updates and Community Conversations

Project Overview

For those who may be new to Malden River Works, here is a quick recap of the project:

• What is Malden River Works? Malden River Works is a project led by a new coalition of community leaders of color, youth, environmental advocates, and government stakeholders to bring a new climate resilient public park for all on the Malden River.

• Where is the project located? The project is located at the City of Malden’s Department of Public Works (DPW) yard on Commercial Street in Malden. The DPW yard is the only parcel on the Malden River owned by the city, which is a key reason why the Malden River Works project is located there.

• Who is involved? The people of Malden! Since 2019, the Malden River Works project has had 5 public meetings and several online surveys to come up with a vision for a new riverfront park. The project is led by the Malden River Works Steering Committee, which represents Malden’s communities of color, environmental advocates, and city government stakeholders. The Steering Committee meets every other month to review the design and public outreach for the project, and make sure the project vision reflects the voices of Malden’s diverse communities. The Malden River Works Project Team helps the Steering Committee with community outreach, planning, and design. The Project Team meets every week to keep the design and communications for Malden River Works on track.

• What about climate change? The park is designed to help Malden adapt to climate by holding and filtering stormwater using plants (rain gardens) to reduce flooding from rain storms. Stormwater is the number one source of water pollution in Massachusetts, and this pollution source will be further exacerbated by more extreme storms from climate change. Rain gardens can help with stormwater treatment by slowly infiltrating water into the ground, while naturally removing pollutants from runoff. In addition, planting trees for shade in the park with help to address the urban heat island effect and lower temperatures in the area. Finally, the park will also create an elevated lawn area to reduce flood risk from the river.

• What does the new park look like? There are five main features in the park: the Malden River Greenway path, a flexible shaded lawn, a wheelchair accessible pathway down to a dock on the river, rain gardens to filter stormwater and a new boathouse for Malden’s crew teams and for community boating.

Project Design Updates

The project is currently in a design and engineering phase. The design team is working to develop a detailed set of shovel-ready constructions plans based on the community-led Concept Design Report that was created last year. The project design has continued to evolve over the past few months.

One of the first tasks of the design development process was to create a survey of the physical features of the DPW yard, which allowed the design team to better understand the size and location of certain existing elements that should be considered in the development of the plan. The below diagram highlights a handful of existing features (mature trees, utility poles, additional lot area) that informed some changes to the design plan:

 The design plan was adjusted to preserve as many of the mature trees as possible to maintain animal habitat and help with reducing the urban heat island effect. One example of an adjustment in the plan is along the wheelchair accessible pathway to the dock. The pathway was reconfigured to avoid the elimination of some trees, while maintaining an accessible, very gradual slope.

Another example of a design feature adjustment was the utility pole placement, which caused us to shift the parking area near Commercial Street to avoid the expense of moving the poles. This resulted in the opportunity to locate green stormwater infrastructure right along the sidewalk of Commercial Street, as a green amenity that will be experienced by passersby. Finally, the additional lot area created the opportunity to expand the size of one of the rain gardens along Commercial Street.

Below is an image of the current progress plan:

The timeline for finishing up the design and engineering phase will depend on what kinds of permits and funding are needed to build the park. We anticipate that this phase will be complete in early 2023.

Community Conversations

Over the course of the spring and summer, the Malden River Works Steering Committee will be visiting a dozen different local organizations in the community to share updates and discuss the project. Organizations the Steering Committee has met with so far include Mass Senior Action Council, Malden Community Gardens, Mystic Steering Committee, and the UMA/Malden Catholic High School among others. To see the project summary that will be shared at these community meetings, please click here.

This was made possible with funding from the State of Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Program Action Grant and a MAPC Accelerating Climate Resiliency Grant.

This is a community-led project - we want to hear from you!

Are you interested in sharing your thoughts on the project and/or would you like to receive project updates? Click link below.