ORANGE — The campaign to improve and beautify the patch of land unofficially known as the East Main Street Pocket Park surpassed $9,500 on Aug. 6, one day before the deadline to secure a matching grant.
The campaign through the Michigan-based civic crowdfunding platform Patronicity eventually accumulated $9,700 from more than 50 contributors. MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development and finance agency, had pledged a $9,500 matching grant from its “Commonwealth Places” initiative, a partnership between MassDevelopment and Patronicity that leverages public support for community projects.
Orange and MassDevelopment announced the campaign’s launch on June 23. The future park is expected to include rain gardens and a mural.
Kevin Kennedy, the director of community development and planning for Orange, said the goal is to start construction in mid-September and finish by Nov. 1. The park sits between DIAL-SELF Youth & Community Services and a building that hosts a lineup of businesses.
“The project is good to go,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to be trying to get this project built and in before the snow flies.”
Kennedy said he has already reached out to contractors to get estimates on necessary drainage work. He has also spoken with muralist Susan Marshall, who painted the mural outside Trail Head Outfitter & General Store, to “develop a plan on how the mural is going to be implemented.” Kennedy said the goal is to have a base mural completed by the ribbon-cutting, though it is not yet clear if Marshall will paint an entire mural in a tight timeframe or if a basic framework will be created for individual muralists to contribute to in the future.
Jonathan Berk, Patronicity’s director of New England operations, said the Orange pocket park is the launch project of Commonwealth Places.
“The goal of this project is to see residents be empowered to really take hold of redevelopment and reinvestment,” he said from his office in Boston. “We’re very excited to see Orange do so well.”
“We started off with a bang and then kind of there was a lull and I was concerned,” he said. “I was very moved by the reaction that we got from locals, but really we also got a lot of contribution from outside of the town of Orange.”
Kennedy said the park will be named after Dr. Scott Grenquist, who donated $3,300 to get the project going. The park’s Patronicity page states a $3,300 donation could earn the “opportunity to have the pocket park named after a family name or organization.”
The Orange Selectboard has already approved the Grenquist name, according to Kennedy.
Grenquist, of Hull, is an associate professor of electrical engineering and technology at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. He said he used to own the Workers’ Credit Union building that now houses the Quabbin Harvest food co-op. He develops properties throughout Massachusetts, he said, and invested in the former bank building because he wanted to contribute to Orange’s rejuvenation.
“The pocket park is an extension of the original strategic plan that I saw for downtown Orange — to bring people back into downtown Orange — and it also extends on the co-op that is there too,” he said.
Grenquist said he bought the building for $125,000, put $50,000 of renovations into it, and sold it for $140,000 about two years ago. He said he lost money on the investment, but enjoys helping economically struggling communities.
He said he originally envisioned a movie theater for the building when he bought it.
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