City officials break ground on Hazelwood Park bowling greens

New Bedford, Massachusetts– Mayor Jon Mitchell, members of the City Council, City officials and the Friends of Hazelwood Park joined community leaders and organizers of the Hazelwood Park bowling green project to officially break ground on the project on Thursday.

The new bowling greens will be the latest improvement to Hazelwood Park, New Bedford’s scenic oceanfront park in the far South End. The project was inspired and organized by resident Joann Tschaen, and funded through a combination of public and private funders, including the Community Preservation Committee, New Bedford Day Nursey, state Senator Mark Montigny’s Children’s Fund, and more than $180,000 in private donations, large and small.

English-style lawn bowling, and the pitch at Hazelwood, was originally constructed in 1920 and was brough to the city by English mill workers residing in the South End. In recent years, lawn bowling, croquet, and bocce have regained popularity as accessible sports for all ages and abilities.

Youth organizations including Youth Opportunities Unlimited in New Bedford, and their partnership with the Community Boating Center, have used the greens to teach lawn bowling since 2004.

The construction of the bowling pitches will take approximately a month. The planned opening date is Spring 2021.