Worcester's Biggest Park Closed For 24 Hours, City Won't Say Why

Worcester MA

11 June, 2021

1:21 PM

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WORCESTER, MA — With only a few hours notice, the Worcester parks department on Thursday evening announced the city's largest park would be closing for 24 hours. The only explanation: a "private affair" was going to take place. The closure, which is set to end at 10 p.m. Friday, was the second one this week in the wake of a double-drowning on June 4 that claimed Worcester Officer Enmanuel "Manny" Familia and 14-year-old Troy Love. Asked about the 24-hour Green Hill closure, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. spokesman Walter Bird refused to elaborate on what the "private affair" was. He also declined to say if it was an event like a wedding, or if the closure was related to Familia, whose funeral was held on Thursday. Green Hill Park will be closed from 10 p.m. tonight, June 10 through 10 p.m. Friday, June 11 for a private affair. The park will reopen on a normal schedule on Saturday, June 12.— City of Worcester (@TweetWorcester) June 10, 2021 On Monday morning, the park entrance at Channing Street was closed with a sign indicating there were renovations going on at Green Hill Park. Bird declined to give a reason for that closure, but did say there were no renovations going on at the park. The 470-acre Green Hill Park is home to a livestock zoo, a playground, hiking trails, the state Vietnam veterans memorial and the city's World War I memorial. The centerpiece is a 30-acre pond, which is where Familia and Love drowned. The parks golf course and athletic fields closer to the main entrance along Belmont were kept open. The Friday closure mostly affected vehicles. The gates at the east entrance near the Connie Mack Little League Field was closed, as was the gate at the west entrance at Channing Street and Green Hill Parkway. There were no signs warning pedestrians not to enter. Around noon on Friday, several vehicles drove up to the gate, paused and maneuvered back toward the main entrance along Belmont Street. The closure didn't stop about a dozen pedestrians, some walking dogs, and at least one person who rode a scooter into the mostly empty park.