New Bedford’s Ashley Park Transformed With New Upgrades

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — New Bedford has officially completed renovations to Ashley Park, including new recreation additions and beautiful landscaping upgrades for the community.

On Monday morning, Mayor Jon Mitchell joined city officials and the Goulart Square neighbors to celebrate the reimagined park on Orchard Street.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony capped the year-long $1.7 million project to reimagine the public space in the heart of one of the city’s most historic and diverse neighborhoods.

From a new entrance area at the corner of Rivet and Orchard Streets to new pathways and enhanced green space, the renovation project is the latest example of the Mitchell administration’s focus on providing safe, well-maintained, and aesthetically pleasing parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities.

Park upgrades include reworked pathways around and within the park, a new prominent entrance at the corner of Rivet and Orchard Streets, new lighting, benches and landscaping.

The softball field along Orchard Street was replaced with a new recreational green space. The new pathways are also uniquely designed for wheelchairs and strollers. 

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Multiple businesses collaborated over the past year to help make the renovations come to life through design, landscape architecture and construction work.

“The reimagined Ashley Park exemplifies our commitment to high design standards for public spaces in every neighborhood,” Mitchell said. “I want to thank our federal delegation for supporting the CDBG program, which helped fund the project.”

The improvements are part of many recent significant developments in the Goulart Square neighborhood. In the coming years, a new elementary school will replace the Congdon and DeValles schools, and NorthStar Learning has already broken ground on a new early education center.

Additionally, the playground at Ashley Park, at the corner of Swift and Orchard Streets, will be completely remodeled over the next year.

Mitchell noted that the details of the redesign are intended for longevity and for generations to come who will have the opportunity to experience Ashley Park.

“What we want is people 10 years from now and so forth to know that what we did here was really important work that is lasting and continues to benefit our city and make this neighborhood strong," he said.