Apr 29, 2023
Why there’s a regulation
One of the most distinctive features of the evolving Riverwalk Innovation
One of the most distinctive features of the evolving Riverwalk Innovation District in Lawrence is a turfed sports field which sits atop a 3-story parking garage — open and available for local community use.
The district — which grew out of the investment and efforts of local entrepreneur Salvatore "Sal" Lupoli, CEO and founder of Lupoli Companies and the Massachusetts-based Sal's Pizza chain — is a former mill complex which largely sat unused and in disrepair for years on the right bank of the Merrimack River.
Now, it is a vibrant and growing 46-acre mixed-use campus home to thousands of workers and about 600 apartments — with more still yet to come — and one its key community-building features is its unique sports field.
Lupoli originally thought of the concept for the field back in 2006, foreseeing the eventual need for both a parking garage and greenery.
At the time he approached an engineering firm about the unorthodox mixed-garage and open space, adding he was originally met with some skepticism by engineers.
He knew due to spacial limitations, such as the often-occupied surface-level parking in the district used by those who live and work there, that it had to go somewhere less conventional.
"We don't have the ability to create this beautiful park in the center," Lupoli said in an interview with MassLive, adding that this previous lack of a recreational, community space was a detraction for the emerging district.
He said he also looked to neighboring, wealthier communities like North Andover where green spaces are more plentiful and at Lawrence's lack of them.
"They don't have an abundance of open spaces for the kids," Lupoli said of Lawrence. He added that in the spaces Lawrence does have, coaches often have to walk the fields before games and events to pick up and remove debris and litter — some of which, like broken glass and other sharp objects — may present a hazard to players.
"I said ‘let's build a field on top of the building,’" Lupoli said, noting it would be regulation-size to accommodate sports for local boys and girls like soccer, lacrosse and Pop Warner football as well as being a clean and secure for children, teens and community members to use.
Last September, the 1,200-space garage opened at Riverwalk, not only reducing parking difficulties, but also providing that community space with views extending out across the Merrimack River to downtown Lawrence and to the upper portions of the surrounding former mill buildings, which run the span of the field and beyond.
The Pavilion Field at Riverwalk, its official name, features two yellow goalposts at each end, white distance and line markings on top of synthetic green grass and tall netting surrounding the edges to capture any fly balls gone astray. It also features an in-laid track for joggers and runners.
Abutting the field and garage is a new 80,000 square-foot building for office spaces, shops and restaurants, like U-Licious Juice Bar + Superfood.
According to Lupoli, use of the sports complex is donated to the youth organizations in the city, allowing students who reside in the community to use it free of charge, whereas other groups who use it are charged a fee.
The field is already rented out for practices and games to "a variety of Merrimack Valley organizations," according to Pavilion Riverwalk's website.
Lupoli said while such fields have been built before atop large buildings before, that one hasn't been built "to this extent," and that he one day hopes thanks to its riverside backdrop, its sports lighting design and its size, to host concerts on the field.
It also isn't Lupoli's first experience building sports fields. Before the field atop the garage became a reality, Lupoli helped to build and fundraise for two synthetic turf fields in Chelmsford in 2006, where he lived at the time.
He said in under six months, he was able to raise $600,000 in a leading fundraiser role and he saw the beneficial impact on the community.
"Like everybody was there all the time," Lupoli said once the fields were built. "The kids love it. The adults love it. They were walking the track at nighttime. The people that lived there just really enjoyed it."
It was among the reasons why building the field at Riverwalk mattered to him.
Lupoli said for many years others would question his decision making investing in the city of about 90,000 residents, one of the poorest in the state. He, in turn, rebuked those who have looked down on Lawrence and who say it won't change.
"If we keep dwelling on the history, then nothing will ever move forward. And I want the history of Lawrence — the bad stuff — to stay just where it is in the past, and I only want to focus on the opportunities, and that's why we put a field on top of a building," he said.
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