When two northeasters slammed into Massachusetts in 2018, stormwaters flooded McConnell Park, which sits between I-93 and Morrissey Boulevard, and steps from the shoreline of Malibu Beach and the Dorchester Yacht Club.

Water flowed across the playground, fields, parking lot, and into the backyards and basements of neighbors who live nearby.
On a sunny summer Friday four years later, the fencing by one of the fields now carries signage noting the storms’ high-water marks, with a warning that waters could rise even higher as climate change hikes sea levels.

Ruthzee Louijeune, a city councillor at-large, pointed to one of the signs indicating the 2018 water level at her knees. That sign is in blue, and several feet above it are red signs indicating expected sea levels in the coming decades. The top-most red sign is nearly at eye-level with Louijeune, who posed for a picture with the signs and Mayor Michelle Wu.

Wu and Louijeune last Friday joined City Councillors Erin Murphy and Frank Baker to highlight the high-water mark indicators and celebrate $7.1 million in improvements to the 6.2-acre McConnell Park.

Berms, or artificial ridges, have been installed in the park to protect neighborhood residents, as well as the park’s multipurpose softball and soccer fields, from floods. The grade of the parking lot was raised, too, to help stem stormwaters. A granite block barrier wall is also in place now.

Northeasters can’t be stopped, but their effects can be mitigated, Wu told a crowd that included members of the local youth sports leagues, Savin Hill residents, and members of the US Army Corps of Engineers, which helped with the project. The upgrades were paid for through the mayor’s capital improvement plan, in addition to a $1 million land and water conservation fund grant.

The park’s athletic fields have been fully renovated, with new LED lighting, bleachers, and dugouts with shade. A new Little League field is complete with a batting cage and drinking fountains, along with irrigation.

Other features include a multi-purpose softball field with ball netting; a small soccer field in the outfield; and a Challenger ball field for inclusion leagues with a closer outfield fence and an accessible short pile artificial turf field surface.

“The park provides a buffer against infrequent but devastating high water events, and neighbors can enjoy the site’s open skies, fresh air, and sea views every day of the year,” said Ryan Woods, the city’s parks and recreation commissioner.

Baker, who represents Savin Hill on the City Council, acknowledged that the project took on some challenges because of the number of city, state and federal agencies involved, and he thanked the neighbors for enduring years of construction noise.

Added his colleague, At-Large Councillor Murphy: “This is a success story and it’s because we’re working together.”

Additionally, the park features a plaza with a relocated memorial stone and bronze plaque memorializing its namesake, Capt. Joseph McConnell, who was killed in action in France in 1918. A North Adams native with a law practice in Boston, Capt. McConnell married Dorchester’s Pauline Claxton in 1917, before he headed off to war.

State Rep. Dan Hunt, first elected in 2013, recalled his time working at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation when the conversations first started about improvements to McConnell Park. He credited Mayor Marty Walsh for putting the project into motion, and acting mayor Kim Janey, and Wu for continuing the project. McConnell Park is a regional asset, Hunt said, noting its proximity to the Savin Hill MBTA Station.

Mike Szkolka, who took part in the community design process while president of the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association, said that the park is the site of many childhood memories for him and his friends. “It’s endlessly exciting that so many people will get to enjoy this space for decades to come.”