PHOTOS: Mayor Menino Meets North Enders at Renovated DeFilippo Park

In the heat of the Friday sun, Mayor Thomas Menino cut the ribbon to commemorate the reopening of DeFilippo Park.

“When we were growing up, we used to play softball here,” Menino told a gathering of local families. 

This event coincided with the Mayor’s Coffee Hours program, which provides residents with a unique opportunity to speak with Mayor Menino in personal settings while enjoying refreshments provided by Dunkin Donuts. Residents were encouraged to talk one-on-one with the Mayor about open space needs in their neighborhoods. Families were also given flowering plants grown in the city’s greenhouses at Franklin Park as a gift.

The renovations at DeFilippo Park cost around $900,000, according to the mayor's office.

“This project was conducted in two phases as part of a two year effort,” Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollack said. “This site used to be an old gas holding facility.”

The improvements include a full replacement of the existing playground with new toddler bucket swings and a seating area. The fences were enlarged to create more space for kids to play.

Parents were welcome to help themselves to iced coffee (at the Mayor’s request, the coffee had to be iced), while the children got to play on the new playground and have their faces painted.