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Franklin Street Park Improvements
What's Happening Now
Franklin Street Park is located on the block between Hancock and Bay Streets in the Riverside neighborhood. Park renovations were completed in 2003.
Project Description
The Cambridge Community Development Department has recently renovated Franklin Street Park, a house-lot sized park located in the Riverside neighborhood. The park had been an unused and uninviting area paved with concrete. The goal of this renovation was to transform the park into a small urban oasis in a densely populated neighborhood.
The final design shown below was developed based on feedback received at meetings held between December 2001 and July 2002, as well as telephone and written correspondences from local residents. This design reflects an attempt to achieve the following design goals expressed by members of the community.
Design Goals
- To develop a small urban oasis that is attractive, visually interesting, and has unique design features;
- To maintain the existing passive character of the park while providing opportunities for more active use, including some play opportunities for children. It was felt that this park should not become a playground. The nearby King School playground is currently undergoing a major renovation and will provide a large amount of playground structures for all ages;
- To improve safety and encourage positive activities and behavior. Improvements to lighting, tree pruning, park regulatory signs, and the installation of an emergency call box all contribute to this goal;
- To introduce more natural and informal materials such as rocks and low ground cover plantings. Increased park maintenance and an automatic irrigation system are called for in the plan for upkeep of plantings;
- To make all park furniture (benches, tables, drinking fountain, etc.) and all areas of the park wheelchair accessible.
Final Design
The following links will bring you to documents concerning the park plan. Please note that the plan included here only indicates the general park layout; some details have been altered based on public comment. These files are in PDF format and require use of the free Adobe Acrobat viewer.
- Proposed Plan for Franklin Park (931 KB)
- Design Concepts - Water, Entrance, Rocks, Plants (474 KB)
- Design Concepts - Active vs. Passive, Play Dome, Safety, Meeting Ground (482 KB)
Photo Gallery
Here you will find a collection of photos of the finished park. Select a photo or the caption beneath to view a larger version of the picture.
Landscape Architecture Award
Franklin Park received an "Editor's Choice" award from the magazine "Landscape Architecture", the national publication of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The magazine included a detailed writeup in the July 2004 edition, with a series of park photos. See the first page of this article at: http://www.asla.org/lamag/lam04/july/EditorsChoice.html.
For More Information
If you would like additional information please contact Taha Jennings at tjennings@cambridgema.gov or at 617/349-4603. The Community Development Department TTY line is 617/349-4621.
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