EAST PROVIDENCE  — City officials and outside consultants last week held a community meeting to discuss an initial proposal to refurbish the Kent Field Playground. The gathering took place Monday evening, Oct. 17, at the Fuller Creative Learning Center on Dover Avenue.

Mayor Bob DaSilva, At-Large Councilor Bob Rodericks and Ward 3 Councilor Nate Cahoon, in whose district in Kent Heights where the eponymous park is located, took part in the meeting as did members of the city’s Planning & Economic Development Department along with Kevin Alverson, president of the namesake landscape architectural firm hired to redesign the grounds.

According to the mayor’s office, the three dozen or so residents in attendance “were very positive” about what they heard and saw from the presentation, provided “great” feedback and asked incisive questions about what could and should done at the site.

Added Cahoon, “It was everything a community meeting should be. It was well-attended, featured productive and respectful discourse and everyone there left with a solid understanding of what is going to happen.”

The project was made possible, in part, through the city’s own Capital Improvement fund, an earmark approved by the council as part of the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget, and via a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management grant, a program the Planning Department submitted an application for late in 2021 and which was approved in May of this year.

East Providence was one of the 16 municipalities around the state to receive a portion of RIDEM’s $4.1 million “Rec Grant” program, which required a 20 percent community match to help develop or renovate local outdoor recreational facilities.

East Providence’s allocation of $400,000 for Kent Field, as explained last year and during last week’s meeting, calls for the resurfacing and upgrades to the existing basketball and tennis courts with new pickleball and futsal courts built adjacent.

The existing baseball diamond will also renovated and improved as will the current location of the children’s play area and apparatus.

In the back reaches of the grounds, where now there is undefined open space, there’s the potential to construct a new full size soccer field and as well as a spot with a circumference suitable for a cricket oval. Like the rest of the park, the area will be resurfaced and graded for better drainage and usability.

A new walking track will be created around the perimeter of the grounds while also connecting the various spots on the interior.

In addition, the proposal includes not only the protection of the hundreds of trees on the edges of the property, but also the planting of an additional 100 new trees and shrubs as part of the redevelopment.

Decorative signage, seating and bike racks are some of the other amenities of note in the works.

And last, but certainly not least, all of the proposed improvements adhere to Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.

Of the proposal produced for discussion, Cahoon said, “I'm really excited about the initial concept. And perhaps most exciting of all was the discussion about addressing the long-standing (and oft-lamented) drainage in the park. Rain events have long left the park a bog for days afterward. Better drainage and additional trees will help residents enjoy the park's many new features.”