Dump Succeeds As Park

The City of Cambridge has worked a little magic in the Alewife neighborhood--by transforming a former city garbage dump into a huge all-purpose park.

On a nice summer day, 500 to 1,000 people can be found playing all kinds of sports, picnicking, exercising, and observing wildlife on the 50-acre Danehy Park, located behind the Fresh Pond Movie Theater. Interstate soccer and baseball tournaments, high school football games, company picnics and even kite festivals are also held there.

Cambridge City Director of Recreation Paul R. Ryder said the park is "the only large area where we can hold events for the whole city."

He also emphasized the wide range of opportunities that the park offers. "Fifty percent of the park is used for active space, like ballfields, and 50 percent for passive space, like picnic tables," he said. "This is very unusual."

Ryder added that there is "no risk at all" of harm to park visitors even though the site was a landfill. "We did 10 years of methane testing before we built on [the site] and there is still yearly monitoring going on."

Visitors were sparse yesterday because of the rain. But four members of a Cambridge Youth Soccer League Team braved the weather to attend practice.

Their coach, Lorraine S. Chao '94, who got involved with the team through Phillips Brooks House, said the team practices at the park once a week and plays a game there each Saturday. She said there are usually "tons" of people at the park on Saturdays with good weather.

Wesley C. Rose and John M. Amao, both age 14, were waiting to watch a Cambridge Ringe and Latin football game in the park yesterday. Amao said he often goes there to play basketball.

The site was originally used as a clay mine until 1952, which left a deep clay pit.

The city dumped trash into the pit from 1952 until 1971, and then the MBTA used it to dump materials from tunnel excavation from 1978 to 1983.

Danehy Park, named after former Cambridge Mayor Thomas W. Danehy, was developed from 1988 to 1990, when it opened.

Future plans call for tennis courts, a running track, spectator stands, sports lighting and a changing facility.