Chelmsford, MA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Inclusive public space improvements

Description: Organizers with the Chelmsford Public Library set out to recognize indigenous peoples' contributions throughout local history. To do this, the library installed informational kiosks. Additionally, they constructed five freestanding mini free libraries along local walking paths. To further engage residents, they also hosted educational programing focusing on arts and history.

Greenfield, MA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: The City of Greenfield removed 250-square-feet of asphalt from a downtown parking lot, converting it to a pocket park -- a space for people instead of cars. The Fiske Avenue Pocket Park features benches, a chess table, a bike repair station, a pollinator garden and a quirky bee sculpture. Project organizers say the new, centrally located green space supportz a central goal of the city's Sustainable Master Plan: to create a vibrant, walkable downtown. Additionally, removing the asphalt supported efforts to mitigate stormwater runoff. The project's success also helped the City secure a 200,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation.