Push to take back Roxbury park from Mass & Cass addicts

City officials say they are committed to making the deplorable Clifford Playground a safer and more accessible park for local youth sports organizations and the community at large.

Residents, starting in August, will get the chance to suggest how the city should redesign the 8-acre Roxbury park, a few blocks from the heart of Mass and Cass, where people roam the streets, visibly buying, selling and using drugs.

The community engagement will inform what is included in the renovated playground, with construction slated for next year. Officials allocated $7.2 million towards the project in this year’s $4.2 billion capital plan.

A Pop Warner football program that plays at the park, the Boston Bengals, had been on the verge of collapse due to the unsanitary conditions; needles, human feces and other trash. But area philanthropist Ernie Boch Jr. tossed a $15,000 donation for Domingos DaRosa to save his non-profit organization after reading a Herald article on the state of the playground.

Speaking to the Herald on Wednesday, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ryan Woods said he believes the renovated space could include upgrades to lighting and the addition of “water features,” making the area “more favorable.”

“When you have a lot of community members in a park that is well used, loved and permitted,” Woods said, “you don’t see as much negativity take place. That’s our goal: To come back with a design that the community wants so we have people flocking to Clifford Park.”

The spillover from Mass and Cass has led to a sharp decline in interest from players and parents in participating with the Boston Bengals over the years, making it hard for DaRosa to fund his beloved football program.

But Boch’s $15,000 donation will be more than enough for DaRosa to cover new equipment and registration, operation and insurance expenses.

“Boston is really special because we have so many community partners from every sector who are willing to step up,” Mayor Michelle Wu told the Herald. “I am excited to see that as we are working with the park redesign and other efforts, there are a lot of people everywhere willing to raise their hand to make it better.”

Leonid Sigal, a Roxbury resident who lives near Nubian Square, said he believes there are  “simple policies” that the city could enact to better protect Clifford Playground. His suggestions include building a larger border around the park, closing it overnight or start issuing trespassing violations to those who come overnight.

“There needs to be repercussions,” Sigal said Saturday, when the Herald visited the park. “People aren’t going to start changing until there are repercussions for their actions.”

The city Parks and Recreation Department has crews that clean Clifford twice a day, every day of the week, while the Newmarket Business Improvement District deploys cleaning crews numerous times every day, Woods said.

“Services are going directly, on a daily basis, to Clifford,” he said, “and it’s a constant effort. We could be there all day.”