Franklin Park is a beloved center of community gathering and a public health resource for Boston’s most diverse communities. The Franklin Park Action Plan, the first comprehensive plan for Boston’s largest park in 30 years, is founded on equal respect for historic park fabric, ecological systems, and the communities who have stewarded it through decades of disinvestment.
Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1895 General Plan conceived of an expansive New England landscape where all were welcome to enjoy the benefits of recreation and experience nature within the city. Incremental changes and deferred maintenance have obscured the original design, leaving the park’s physical fabric and ecological systems in severe decline; new leaseholders have further segmented the park’s 527 acres, leaving it feeling less public and disconnected.
Focused on issues of equity, cultural significance, climate change, and ecological resilience, Action Plan aspirations are forward-looking and visionary, but are based in practical, action-oriented recommendations. It advocates for thoughtfully guided, community-driven design implemented through equitable investment to enable this treasured park to do what it does now, only better.
INTENT
With the Parks Department, the landscape architects and wide-ranging consultant team recognized that renewing the park required equally honoring its design heritage and history of grassroots community stewardship, enhancing its ecological systems, and reconnecting with surrounding residents.
The Plan does not seek to reinvent the park by introducing revenue-driven programs or transforming its inherent character. Instead, recommendations focus on improving social and ecological health, and promote a return to Olmsted’s original principles without displacement of its evolved significance and current users – linking people to the power of natural phenomena and cultivating access to open space, in the belief that they enhance our daily lives, improve public health, and promote civic discourse.
PROCESS
The team facilitated a layered engagement approach to reach the park’s many, diverse surrounding neighborhoods. It emphasized meeting people where they are, uncovering rich information about the park’s past and present, and working with community groups. Distributed in seven languages, outreach included workshops, neighborhood meetings, surveys, pop-up events, and neighborhood canvassing, even amid the challenges of the pandemic. Online and in-park campaigns bolstered awareness of the process and encouraged participation, resulting in over 26,000 touchpoints. Ongoing participation data was analyzed to prioritize diverse, local representation. These extensive inputs and the team’s deep analysis of the park’s history, communities, and land shaped five primary design strategies for the park’s renewed stewardship and continued evolution.
IMPLEMENTATION
Supported by an initial $28 million in municipal funding, Action Plan implementation focuses on near-term maintenance and ecological management, and long-range capital improvements. Recommendations are supported by anti-displacement, equitable procurement, governance, and funding strategies aligned with the community context. Success of the Plan can be measured in top community priorities already underway, including an expanded maintenance team and the renewal of treasured park ruins at The Overlook and Bear Dens. The recent appointment of a park administrator will oversee operations and ongoing stakeholder relationships, and ensure investments are aligned with plan goals to deliver value back to the community.
Re-Investing in a Legacy Landscape: The Franklin Park Action Plan
Design Team: Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture with Agency Landscape + Planning and MASS Design Group.
Collaborators:
ARUP, Mobility & Transportation
Ethan Carr, Landscape History
ETM Associates, Maintenance & Operations
Grayscale Collaborative, Equity & Inclusion
HLB, Lighting Design
Julia Africa, Public Health
Landwise, Economics
Nitsch Engineering, Stormwater Management
Olsson, Soil Science
Over/Under, Visual Identity & Wayfinding
RES, Ecology
Siteworks, Cost Estimating
Tree Specialists, Inc., Arboriculture
Client: Boston Parks and Recreation Department
Image credits: Design Team(see above) , Millicent Harvey, United States Department of the Interior, Casey Preston/White Birch Media, Sahar Coston-Hardy, Franklin Park Coalition, City of Boston;