By Lisa Carolin
Plans are on schedule for Main Street Park to be completed by early summer 2026 and turned over to the City of Chelsea at that time.
That’s what Joe Ziolkowski, lead developer and member of the board of directors for the Main Street Park Alliance, told the Chelsea Parks and Recreation Commission at its Nov. 4, 2025 meeting.
Basketball courts are currently going in, the sidewalk on the west side is ready, and
there are plans for 19 parking spots on Congdon Street with three auxiliary spots for food trucks. Ziolkowski is working with the planning commission to hopefully allow street parking on the west side of Congdon St. There is still $400,000. to raise. So far $10.1 million has been raised, and Ziolkowski made a point to thank city staff for all its work.
Main Street Park is expected to be a highly active park with 3/4 of a mile of sidewalk in it along with 170 trees.
Parks commission chair Shawn Personke announced that she will be presenting a report with highlights of the 2026-31 5-Year Parks Plan on Monday, Nov. 17, at the Chelsea City Council meeting.
The parks commission has close to $40,000 to spend in 2026 and is talking about possibly using some of it for improvements to Vet’s Park and the baseball fields. There will be a work session on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 9 a.m. for further discussion.
The next regular meeting of the parks commission is on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 9 a.m. in City Council Chambers.
