WORCESTER, Mass. - Polar Park has been open for over a year, but the ballpark and its surrounding neighborhood continue to advance towards its final form. 

The City of Worcester and the Worcester Red Sox celebrated two different dedications on Monday.

City and team leaders held a dedication at the Rockland Trust Plaza at 45 Green St.

The open-air plaza used to be a municipal parking lot and will now be the northern entrance into the ballpark. 

It will also continue to pay tribute to General Josiah Pickett of the 25th Massachusetts regiment during the Civil War. Pickett was a Worcester native and the city’s former postmaster.

The WooSox and the city hope the new plaza will create a walkable environment connecting the canal district and downtown Worcester neighborhoods. 

“I said this needs to be a connection point, because part of the way the city is paying for our share of the ballpark is parking revenues. And a lot of our parking assets are over in this area. They’re the Union Station garage, they’re the library parking lot, they’re the Worcester Common garage, they’re the Federal Garage,” City Manager Ed Augustus said during Monday’s presentation. “We wanted a city where you could park once, and walk around and have a whole set of different activities. We wanted feet on the street.”

Leaders also dedicated the DCU Plaza at the entrance of the park and unveiled a plaque recognizing the contributors who helped make Polar Park a reality.