Garfield’s Curtis Park Undergoing Renovations

Curtis Park is undergoing renovations and the new baseball field and basketball court should be ready for use next spring.

Mike Hinojosa, director of Revere Parks and Recreation, said as a teenager he played in the Babe Ruth League on the baseball field that is located next to the Garfield School. After a stellar career at Revere High, Hinojosa went on excel in college baseball at Suffolk University.

“The whole field is being renovated,” reports Hinojosa. “The project began six months ago and everything is being replaced. There will be an all-natural grass field.”

Though the 2020 high school baseball season was canceled due to the coronavirus, the Revere High School junior varsity team has played its home games in previous years at Curtis Park.

“The addition of the new field at Curtis Park will help our current Babe Ruth program because we need multiple fields,” said Hinojosa. “We will have Curtis, Beachmont, and the RHS Field for baseball in the city.”

Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky, a huge proponent of the project, said the $785,000 project is being funded by the monies from the city’s Community Improvement Trust Fund (CITF).

“The money came from the construction and permit fees for the projects on Revere Beach Parkway – One Beachmont on the former Shaw’s site and the hotels, the Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites,” explained Novoselsky.

Novoselsky said like Hinojosa, he played sports at Curtis Park as a youth growing up in Revere. “I played mostly softball there,” he recalled.

The councillor said that Mayor Brian Arrigo has been “100 percent supportive” of the project and the newly renovated Curtis Park will continue the overall improvement in Revere recreational facilities throughout the city. “Elle Baker [of the Office of Strategic Planning and Development] is the project manager and she’s doing a great job.”

An avid Red Sox baseball fan and season ticket holder, Novoselsky said residents will be able to play baseball and soccer at the field [which is named after Roland Merullo Sr.] and basketball on the adjacent new court.

“I’m very happy that so many Revere residents are going to get to enjoy the new park,” said Novoselsky. “The backstop [behind home plate] and the side fences look great. The fences are very high so the foul pop-ups will not be hitting the nearby homes.”