Mayor Paul Brodeur and the Melrose High School (MHS) Unified Basketball Program are pleased to announce the Amazing Grace Basketball Court honoring the life of Grace Zinck has been completed. There will be a formal dedication during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, November 17, at 3:15 p.m. Grace was a Melrose resident, MHS student, and former Unified Basketball Athlete.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, will take place at the site of the new Amazing Grace Basketball Court located next to the Fred Green Football Field and adjacent to the MHS concession stand. The new half-court will also feature a bench with a commemorative plaque dedicated to Grace’s memory.

“Grace was a valued member of her family, Melrose, Melrose High School, the Unified Basketball team, and countless other organizations and groups that were lucky to have her touch their lives,” said Mayor Paul Brodeur. “We are ready to celebrate the life of Grace, who was affectionately known as ‘Amazing Grace’ by many. We invite everyone who remembers Grace to please join us in memorizing her legacy.”

“The Unified team and family are thrilled to have the Amazing Grace Court come to fruition. It is a testament to her character and the amazing individual she was," said Unified Basketball Coach Matthew Manfredi. "The court was developed with a lot of help from the Melrose Unified family and its supporters, and we could not be happier to see this court open for all to use.” Manfredi is also the Assistant Principal & Special Education Coordinator of the Lincoln Elementary School.

Shortly after Grace’s passing, the concept for the Amazing Grace Basketball Court was proposed by student members of the MHS Unified Basketball Program as part of Mayor Brodeur’s annual Participatory Budget Contest, which asks MHS students to decide how to spend a portion of the Mayor’s office budget.

The MHS student body turned out to vote, and in a landslide, the Amazing Grace Basketball Court proposal was named the winning proposal. Eighteen months later, the court has been completed thanks to an allocation of the City’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, which supplemented the original Participatory contest budget.

The ceremony will include a ribbon cutting followed by remarks by Mayor Paul Brodeur, MHS Principal Jason Merrill and Unified Basketball Coach, Matthew Manfredi. After the ceremony, the Unified Basketball team will play Lynn Technical High School as their final home game of the season at 4 p.m. in the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gym. The community is invited to attend both events.

To view the Amazing Grace Basketball Court campaign video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-OgtPWxKXE. To learn more about other projects being completed with funding from the City’s ARPA, visit www.cityofmelrose.org/mayor/pages/ARPA