As summer kicks in to full gear, three St. Paul parks along Maryland Avenue in the city’s North End are undergoing significant renovations that will continue through the season.

Construction began this week on both Sylvan Park and Marydale Park, near the corners of Sylvan and Dale Streets, respectively.

The Sylvan project is far larger, both in price and scope.

The $1.5 million renovation includes putting in a pair of multi-use synthetic turf fields, a new play area to replace the one built in 1994, and new benches and landscaping.

Marydale Park will get a new playground, at a cost of $280,000.

Both projects are expected wrap up by late September.

Finally, the Willow Reserve — a 23-acre, wooded, bird and wildlife area at the corner of Arundel Street — is continuing its ecological upgrades thanks to the Capitol Region Watershed District. Related Articles Marchers shut down I-94 through St. Paul to protest Breonna Taylor decision

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With most of the invasive trees now removed, this year there will be a series of plantings: wild flowers, grasses, trees and shrubs native to the region. The $200,000 project is set to wrap up by the end of next year.

Additionally, the district said the city is applying for a state grant that would cover a boardwalk around the edge of the property — or at least the parts where there’s no dry land. That grant application is pending.