Photo: Brooke McCarthy/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Mission Hill non-profit is partnering with Northeastern University to help turn a local park into an arboretum.
Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services is looking to turn Fitzgerald Park into a Level I arboretum, meaning the park has at least 25 different species of plants, has public access, and has some form of an organizational board with a clear mission and volunteers or staff to help support and maintain the arboretum.
Fitzgerald Park is close to reaching that threshold of becoming an arboretum. The park is home to nearly 30 different species of plants, bushes, and trees and has held an Arbor Day event, which is also required to reach arboretum status.
The trees and plants in Fitzgerald park all have special tags that tell visitors maturity, height, what kind of flowers they produce, and what animals like to pollinate them.
All that's left to make Fitzgerald Park an arboretum is for the non-profit to come up with a strategic plan for how the arboretum will operate and for what kinds of plant life the park will have.
Jessica Johnson is a Northeastern student working with Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services and told WBZ's Brooke McCarthy she's excited for the community to experience the new arboretum.
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"[It's a park] that a large portion of the community goes to and enjoys," Johnson said. "We want to be able to uplift this space for them."
Johnson said they plan to fully apply for Level I status in the coming months.
WBZ's Brooke McCarthy (@BrookeWBZ) reports.
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