Hazelwood Park Bowling Greens to Receive a Makeover

According to a recent press release from Senator Montigny’s office, Senator Mark Montigny’s Children’s Equality and Empowerment Fund will jumpstart the Hazelwood Park Bowling Greens Restoration Project in New Bedford and will break ground today.

Montigny created the Children’s Fund in 2017 to provide New Bedford youth expanded access to arts, culture, and recreation in response to growing levels of inequality and lack of access to significant youth development opportunities. Since its inception, the fund has infused over $1.1 million into New Bedford for the direct benefit of city kids.

The Hazelwood Park bowling greens in the city’s South End was a longtime destination for local recreation, featuring lawn bowling and croquet. These sports are accessible to all age groups and offer creative ways to connect today’s youth with the city’s history and senior citizen community. The park’s historic greens, however, had fallen into disrepair and needed a major overhaul. After witnessing city-youth trying to make use of the old facilities, Senator Montigny chose to invest $50,000 from the Children’s Fund into the restoration project. A major anonymous donor and countless individual donors also stepped up to fund the restoration.

“This is a challenging time for many in our community, especially our kids,” said Montigny. “Restoration of these historic greens will provide an additional opportunity for outdoor recreation that can help improve children’s physical and mental wellbeing now and well into the future. The Friends of Hazelwood Park and countless individual donors stepped up with the Children’s Fund to help make this project a big win for our youth, and I look forward to its completion.”