In my June 22, 2025, Substack newsletter, I wrote short origin stories of city of Lowell parks that were two or more acres in size and promised to get to the smaller parks in the coming weeks. Today’s installment covers many of the parks smaller than two acres in size. The remaining parks will appear in the coming weeks as Part III of this series.

A word about formatting: The name in bold is how the park name appears in city documents, and the italicized information that follows regarding the size and use of the park is from the same source.

Armory Park – 50 Westford Street – 1.26 acres – passive open space with playground
This monument was dedicated on November 11, 1985, on the site of the city’s historic National Guard armory which was constructed in 1891 and demolished in 1973.

Bourgeois Park – 113 University Ave – 0.20 acres – basketball court
This park is named for Roland Bourgeois was born in Lowell in 1921 and graduated from St. Joseph’s School. He received his religious education in Bucksport, Maine and Natick, Massachusetts, and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1947. He was assigned to St. Jean Baptiste parish for 10 years and then moved to St. Jeanne d’Arc Parish in 1960. Among his many duties, he was in charge of the parish’s CYO and summer basketball leagues. He died on December 5, 1972, at age 51. The park was dedicated to him in 1973.

Centralville Memorial Park – 711 Aiken Ave – 0.13 acres – Veterans monuments
This park contains several monuments:

1. World War I, with intrepid courage they purchased US peace.
2. World War II, with incredible sacrifices, democracy was victorious.
3. We honor the valiant men and women from this area of Lowell who fought and lived who fought and died that we may continue to enjoy the blessings of a free America. They will be forever young for they gave us their tomorrow. Long live liberty.
4. Korean War. In a distant land they bravely checked military aggression.
5. Vietnam, their heroic deeds remain untold.
6. Presented this day, January 27, 1990, to the Brissette Family in honor and loving memory of their brother, US Navy Airman Normand Roland Brissette of Lowell, Massachusetts, who died while a Prisoner of War at Hiroshima, Japan, the day of the atomic bomb, August 6, 1945. He will be forever young for he had given us his tomorrow. Dedicated on behalf of the Centralville Memorial Monument Committee, the Veterans of St. Louis Parish, and a forever grateful Centralville community, Lowell, Massachusetts.

Coburn Park – 845 Chelmsford St – 0.25 acres – passive open space
This parcel was donated to the city in 1907 by Gratia Ann (Parker) Coburn, the widow of Stephen Adams Coburn. It was the site of the Coburn Homestead and Dairy Farm for many generations which encompassed the current location of Crosspoint.

Concord River Greenway – various locations – 1/30 acres – passive multiuse trail
The Concord River Greenway Park is a multi-use recreational trail on the banks of the Concord River that will connect two of the city’s largest open space, Shedd Park and Rogers Fort Hill Park to the center of Lowell and the network of walkways that have been developed there by the city of Lowell and the Lowell National Historical Park.

Creegan Park – 50 Father Morissette Blvd – 0.47 acres – monument
Colleen Creegan was born in Lowell in 1973. She was an active, popular student at Lowell High School when she was stricken during cheer leading practice at the school and died of a pre-existing heart condition in 1990 at age 16. This park, which is alongside Lowell High, was dedicated to her.

Crowley Park – 78 Wedge St – 0.50 acres – passive open space with playground
Thomas L. Crowley was born in Lowell in 1915. He served in the US Army during World War II and remained in the Massachusetts Army National Guard until his retirement in 1975. In civilian life, he was an officer in the state’s Division of Marine and Recreational Vehicles. He served on the Lowell School Committee for 12 years and on the city council for four years. He died in 2002. His park was dedicated in 1995. The park is also home to a large water tower which is visible for miles.

Dubner Park – 23 Rogers St – 0.23 acres – walkway, seating, landscaping
Jolene Dubner was born in 1959 in Rochester, New York. She came to Lowell in 1981 to work as a Park Ranger at Lowell National Historical Park. She was also a founding board member of the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust and was active in promoting the recreational and environmental use of the Concord River. She died in 1994 at age 39. This park is alongside the Concord River and offers superb views up and downstream. The park was built in 2000.

Father Grillo Park – 853 Central St – 0.10 acres – ornamental garden and monument
This park is dedicated to Father Joseph T. Grillo who served as pastor of St. Anthony’s Church from 1923 until his death in 1948. He had come to Lowell from the Azores to begin his assignment at St. Anthony’s and was primarily responsible for raising the money needed to finish construction of the church. The park was dedicated to him on June 30, 1996.

Fayette Street Park – 246 Fayette St – 0.30 acres – basketball court and playground
This is on the east side of Fayette Street between Chestnut and Church streets. In 1922 there was a swimming pool on the parcel; today there’s a basketball court.

Finneral Park – 232 Lincoln Parkway – 0.03 acres – ornamental garden with monument
A Lowell native who enlisted in the Navy after graduating from Lowell High in 1988, Scottie Finneral and five comrades were killed when their MH-53 mine sweeping helicopter plunged into the Persian Gulf on September 14, 1991, during the first Gulf War. In 1996, the Massachusetts State Legislature named the walkway along the Merrimack River within the Lowell Heritage State Park the Scott Finneral Memorial Riverwalk. This island in the middle of Lincoln Parkway was also dedicated in his honor.

Father Kirwin Park – 889 Lawrence St – 1.54 acres – basketball court, playground, greenspace
William J. Kirwin was born in Lowell in 1877 and later was ordained a Catholic priest in the Order of Mary Immaculate (OMI). He was made pastor of Sacred Heart Church and re-energized the parish with numerous youth activities and athletics. Regrettably, he died in 1929 at age 52 after just two years as pastor. The city dedicated this playground to him in 1941.

Kerouac Park – 49-99 Bridge St – 1.02 acres – passive greenspace with memorial sculpture
For many years this parcel held the massive Curran-Morton cotton warehouse, however, in the 1980s to expedite the development of the adjacent Massachusetts Mills for residential apartments, the city took the Curran-Morton site by eminent domain and demolished the building to create green space. The site was then chosen to house the Jack Kerouac Commemorative, which honored the famous Lowell writer.

 Kittredge Park – 44 Nesmith St – 1.80 acres – passive open space with playground
Real estate developers John and Thomas Nesmith created this park when they subdivided the neighborhood into building lots. The park, which they deeded to the city, would make the neighborhood a more desirable place to live. Originally called Washington Park or Belvidere Park, the park was renamed and dedicated to Captain Paul E. Kittredge who was killed in action in France on October 23, 1918, while serving in the US Army during World War One.

Lincoln Square Park – 2 Lincoln St – 0.50 acres – landscaping with memorial
In 1908, a monument to Abraham Lincoln was constructed on the southern tip of this parcel, however, the rest of today’s park contained residential and commercial buildings. Those buildings were demolished in the 1960s as part of the Hale Howard Urban Renewal Project and the vacant space was converted into a city park. The Lincoln monument was sculpted by Bela Lyon Pratt and was dedicated on May 31, 1909.

Lucy Larcom Park – 255 Merrimack St – 1.27 acres – passive greenspace with sculptures
This park, which runs between the Merrimac Canal and Lowell High from Merrimack to French Streets is named for Lucy Larcom, a famous writer who once worked in the Lowell textile mills. Lucy was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1824, but came to Lowell when her widowed mother moved her to oversee a boarding house for mill workers. Although only 11 years old, Lucy went to work in the mills out of economic necessity, yet she found time to write about her experiences. She left Lowell at age 21 and spent the rest of her life as a teacher and a writer.

Martin Portuguese Park – 424 Central St – 0.10 acres – ornamental garden with monument
This small park at the corner of Central and Charles streets contains several monuments dedicated to Portuguese Americans who served in the armed forces of the United States. The park name and the road intersection are dedicated to Manuel T. Martin, a native of the Azores who will killed in action in France on April 13, 1918, while serving with the United States Army in World War One. (The park has also been called Charles Perriera Memorial Park in honor of the first Portuguese American Lowell resident to be killed in action during World War Two.)

Monsignor Keenan Park – 95 West Sixth St – 1.02 acres – basketball court, playground
Monsignor Francis L. Keenan served as pastor of St. Michael’s Church from 1939 until his death in 1963 at age 70. He was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, in 1892, and was ordained a priest in 1918. Among his earlier assignments was St. Patrick’s Church in Lowell. This park is also known as Eagle Park.

Olga Nieves Playground – 123 Adams St – 0.23 acres – playground
This park is named for neighborhood activist Olga Nieves who was born in Puerto Rico in 1952 and died in Lowell in 1987, leaving a spouse and three children.

Noonan Family Park – 2 Washington Parkway – 0.03 acres – monument
This small island in the middle of Washington Parkway in the Highlands neighborhood is named for Jacqueline Noonan and her son Timothy, who both died from illnesses on consecutive days in October 1995.

Perry Playground – 36 Dover St – 0.41 acres – basketball court, playground
This playground was named for neighborhood resident Michael J. Perry who died in 1974 at age 22 in a motor vehicle accident while stationed at Hancock Field in Syracuse, New York, while serving in the United States Air Force. The park had already existed for many years, and Perry had played there as a child. The park was dedicated in 1976.

Rynne Beach – 300 Pawtucket Blvd – 0.25 acres – public beach on Merrimack River
Michael F. Rynne was born in Ireland but came to Lowell at a young age with his parents. He was a Lowell police officer from 1916 until his retirement in 1946, but he was nationally known as a competitive marathon swimmer who won countless awards and medals during his long swimming career. He died in 1959.

Stoklosa School Park – 560 Broadway – 1.5 acres – basketball court, handball court, field
The Stoklosa Middle School opened in 2005 and was named for Kathryn M. Stoklosa (1927-1999) who served for many years on the Lowell School Committee.

Suffolk Street Park – 140 Suffolk St – 1.2 acres – passive greenspace
This long narrow park runs between the Western Canal and Suffolk Street from Dutton Street to Moody. Although the Western Canal was constructed in 1836, this park was created by the city of Lowell and the National Park Service in the last several decades.

Tenth Street Reservoir – 191 Mt. Pleasant St – 1.33 acres – passive greenspace
This parcel was the site of a supplementary reservoir constructed in the 1880s to service more than 100 houses that were built at an elevation above the city’s primary reservoir on Christian Hill. There is a large water tower on the site now, but the grounds around it have been transformed into a city park.

UMass Lowell Bellegarde Boathouse – 300 Pawtucket Blvd – 0.24 acres – boathouse
I believe this building is named for Edmund A. Bellegarde who was born in Vermont in 1914 but moved to Lowell at a young age. He served in the US Navy in World War II and then in the Army reserves for many years after the war. He died in Lowell in 1982.

Utopia Park – 305 Dutton St – 0.29 acres – passive greenspace with sculpture
This parcel, sometimes called “Point Park” is a small triangle of land at the junction of the Pawtucket and Merrimack Canals within the Hamilton Canal Innovation District. It is also the location of a public sculpture called Hydro which was installed in 2019. The name “Utopia Park” comes from the belief that Lowell’s founders aspired to make living conditions for all in this new city utopian when compared to conditions of the working class in England. While they seemed sincerely dedicated to that objective, subsequent economic pressures led later mill owners to largely disregard the positive plans for mill workers.

Varnum (Mt. Vernon) Park – 169 Third St – 0.58 acres – passive greenspace
Located in Christian Hill at the intersection of Durant, Vernon and 3rd Streets. Rumor has it that George Washington, a friend of the Varnums of Dracut, during a visit to this area, viewed the Merrimac Valley from the top of Christian Hill then part of Dracut. Some speculate it was from this spot.

Walter J. Lemieux Park – 8 Mill St – 0.13 acres – passive greenspace and monument
Walter Lemieux was killed in action in 1969 while serving with the US Army in Vietnam. A graduate of Lowell High and a member of St. Anthony’s Parish, Walter had grown up on Mill Street. A nearby square was dedicated to him in 1987, and the park was dedicated in 1998.