City of Malden kicks off Open Space and Recreation Plan + Art June 13 meeting at City Hall

The City of Malden is in the process of updating its Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) and its Comprehensive Plan. The last OSRP was adopted in 2017. The Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) is managing the planning process.

The Open Space and Recreation Plan will establish a community vision, goals and objectives for the future of Malden’s parks and open space and help prioritize future actions and investments in open space and recreation in Malden. The City is updating its current OSRP to provide a vision and roadmap for the next seven years. Additionally, the City is taking advantage of the OSRP update to incorporate an arts and culture component of the plan, with the intention of considering how arts and culture can enhance the City’s open space and recreation assets and programs.

The first community meeting on this plan will be on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 6-8 p.m. at City Hall. For more information about the June 13 community meeting, please see www.cityofmalden.org/osrp.

Mayor Gary Christenson has appointed a seven-member OSRP Steering Committee: residents Karen Buck, Darren Josey, Edward Rocha and Julie Turner, and Recreation Department Clerk Laura Perez, Community Preservation Committee Staff Administrator Daniel Koff and OSPCD Deputy Director for House and Community Development Alex Pratt. The City has engaged the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to be the consultant on this plan. MAPC was also the consultant on the previous OSRP.

Data collection, including a community survey and land inventory update, will take place in June and July. Focus groups and data analysis will begin in August and continue into the fall. A second public meeting will take place toward the end of the year. The final plan will be submitted to the state Department of Conservation Services (DCS) early next year.