Lowell – The City of Lowell invites the community to Saint Louis Park for the Spring Gathering and Arbor Day Celebration, a free event celebrating the new season, previewing upcoming park design updates, and offering activities for all ages.
This free community event will be held on Saturday, April 25, from 10:00AM to 2:00PM (rain date: Saturday, May 2). The event will take place at Saint Louis Park, 406 W. 6th St, just off Lakeview Ave in Centralville.
The Spring Gathering builds on a year of community engagement, including two events, pop-ups, walking tours, and coffee socials that reached more than 2,500 Lowell residents in 2025. Attendees can look forward to tree planting, community storytelling, family-friendly activities, and a youth basketball tournament. The event will also feature free light refreshments, a live DJ, and free swag.
The Spring Gathering is also an opportunity to meet the Community Liaisons, passionate Lowell residents leading community engagement for the project, who will be on hand to answer questions. Design updates to the outdoor classrooms and the future nature play area will be shared, along with information about next steps and opportunities for continued community involvement.
Saint Louis Park is a beloved park in Lowell’s Centralville neighborhood, known for its baseball fields and basketball courts. Both the park and Centralville face intensifying climate hazards, including extreme heat, poor air quality, and flooding.
The new “Sponge Park” design integrates innovative strategies to mitigate these climate hazards while enhancing riverfront experiences and creating vibrant community gathering spaces.
This project is led by the City of Lowell’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) with design support from Agency Landscape + Planning, a landscape architecture firm based in Cambridge, MA.
Funding includes a $979,120 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, over $575,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding allocated for the future Riverview Park, and a $5 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant that is making cleanup of the adjacent site possible – paving the way for long-term investment in a healthier, more resilient waterfront.
For more information about the Saint Louis Sponge Park project, visit: https://www.saintlouisspongepark.com/
Event Details:
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026 (rain date: Saturday, May 2)
Time: 10:00AM – 2:00PM
Location: Saint Louis Park, 406 W. 6th St, Lowell (behind Top Donut)
Cost: FREE
