WETHERELL PARK (DUFFY FIELD) MASTER PLANNING
The City of Worcester’s Department of Public Works, Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Division is holding a Master Plan ‘informational gathering’ public meeting on Thursday, November 12th, 2020 at 6:30 PM hosted virtually via WebEx.
Meeting information shared by the City of Worcester’s Facebook page on November 4th.
The park’s name is officially and formally Wetherell Park, but is often referred to as Duffy Field. Wetherell Park has been brought into public discourse through the Doherty High School expansion project, as it was presented as a potential site for a facility upgrade with installation of sport facilities for high school use to facilitate the new school building staying at Newton Hill at Elm Park.
The Friends of Wetherell Park started organizing on Facebook in 2019 to represent the green space and provide it a voice amidst its inclusion in the Doherty designs. In the spring of 2020, the active group of neighbors sought member organization status through Park Spirit and were unanimously approved.
The Friends of Wetherell Park have been able to keep interested park users and neighbors informed via their Facebook group of the same name. Group members have very actively shared updates, park information and pictures, and have worked together to correct the public record vis-a-vis a social media dis-information campaign led by local attorney Tom Murray branded ‘Doherty Do it Right’. Lawn signs advocating to ‘Share Duffy Field’ have sporadically popped up across West Side neighborhoods over the past week. It is unclear who, other than the Murray family and former City Councilor Rick Rushton (who ordered the lawn signs), who is represented by and participating in the ‘Doherty Do it Right’ and ‘Share Duffy Field’ campaign.
The Friends of Wetherell Park’s Facebook group services more than 500 members and an online petition advocating against the installation of a turf field, parking lot, and facing and the removal of trees, also has more than 600 signatures.
Written by Brittany Legasey. Photos from the City of Worcester’s social media post and the Friends of Wetherell Park Facebook group.