Ground to be broken on tribute to slavery foes
Fitchburg played role in Underground Railroad
FITCHBURG » The Friends of Fitchburg Abolitionist Park will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., to celebrate the near completion of phases 1 and 2 of the 3-phase development of the vacant lot at 42-50 Snow St.
The ceremony and celebration is the partial culmination of an effort that started in August 2017 when Mount Wachusett Community College students launched the campaign to develop a park dedicated to Fitchburg’s role in the movement to end slavery, according to the announcement by the Friends about Saturday’s event.
When efforts to secure the property where the home of famed Fitchburg abolitionist Benjamin Snow was located on Snow Street failed, Fitchburg State University offered use of its land at 42-50 Snow St. for this purpose.
In April 2019, MWCC students created the Friends of Fitchburg Abolitionist Park with the purpose of formally engaging the greater community in the project, by organizing the Friend’s first biennial meeting and electing its first board of directors.
More than 100 MWCC students and area residents have been active in the project since it was launched, according to the Friends.
The Friends have since developed plans for the park and begun pre-development by first enlisting pro-bono labor from a local landscape architect, then area residents and a landscaping company, to help clean up the trashfilled lot, remove an existing driveway and thin overgrowth, according to the Friends.
Between January 2020 and this past May, the Friends applied for and received grant funding from the Crocker, Wallace, Freedom’s Way and Mass Cultural Council foundations, the Community Health Network, a Community Development Block Grant, and North Central Massachusetts Realtor’s Association, according to the Friends.
The Friends have also raised more than $20,000 in individual donations and are now ready to begin and possibly complete construction of phases 1 and 2 of Fitchburg Abolitionist Park’s development, according to the Friends.
Since the project began, the property has had its tree stumps removed and the soils on the site have been tested for contaminants
The building schedule for the immediate future is to repair a support wall on the property, grade the lot, add loam, prepare the lot for the installation of a rectangular walkway and benches, remove excess granite slabs, build and plant a perennial garden and flowering trees, install a picket fence and flagpole, according to the Friends.
Starting either in late June or in July will be the installation of the rectangular walkway, installation of four to five park benches, installation of solarpowered lighting and a sign with a historic inscription, according to the Friends.
Later in the summer, a painted mural reflective of Fitchburg’s role in the Abolitionist Movement and Underground Railroad will be created and there will be the installation of an ornamental fence along the Snow Street side of the property and between the Hotel Raymond parking lot, according to the Friends. Beginning next year, an interactive display board will be created and connected with phone application technology as well as the installation of several stone sculptures reflective of Fitchburg’s role in the Abolitionist Movement and Underground Railroad, according to the Friends.