Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link

Franklin Park
Franklin Park is the largest public park in the City
of Boston. When Frederick Law Olmsted was
commissioned to design an expansive park system
in the 1880’s he sought to recreate some of the
forms found in his most successful projects. Franklin
Park, at the southern end of the Emerald Necklace,
is a traditional Olmsted country park. When
completed in 1885, the park’s 527 acres centered
around an expansive rolling lawn which he called
the “Country Park,” surrounded by forested trails
in a manmade, recreated natural landscape. In
1896, the “Country Park” was converted into a
golf course, which is still in operation in 2019, as
one of only two public courses in the city. In 1912,
a grand promenade along the western edge was
converted into Franklin Park Zoo, which is still open
in 2019. Some later major additions included Boston
Public School’s George Robert White Schoolboy
Stadium built in 1949, and Shattuck Hospital built in
1954 along the park’s western edge. 25
mean for the Columbia Road corridor. Franklin
Park Coalition Executive Director Janna Cohen-
Rosenthal characterizes this master plan as,
“a generational opportunity to protect and
enhance the public health benefits of our beloved
park, while also developing new opportunity
in partnership with the Park and Recreation
Department”. 28 There are many overlapping
jurisdictions and stakeholders within the bounds of
Franklin Park, and how much the master plan will
look outward into the community to foster social
and physical access is yet to be seen.
Located in the geographic center of the city,
Franklin Park has been a gathering place for
generations for the adjacent neighborhoods of
Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale,
and Mattapan, and also a tourist attraction for a
broader public. As part of Imagine Boston 2030,
the Imagine Boston team worked with the Franklin
Park Coalition and the Boston Parks Department to
lead a public process to reimagine a rejuvenated
Franklin Park. This process received a financial boost
in 2018, when the sale of a City-owned parking
garage at 115 Winthrop Square resulted in a $163
million benefits package, $28 million of which was
allocated to Franklin Park. 26 In April 2019, Mayor
Walsh launched a master planning effort, ahead of
the $28 million revitalization. The City worked with
the Franklin Park Coalition to select a master plan
team, which will be led by landscape architecture
firm Reed Hilderbrand working with Agency
Landscape + Planning and MASS Design. 27
At the time of writing, it is not yet clear what this
planning process will involve, and what it will
25 American Society of Landscape Architects, “The Landscape
Architect’s Guide to Boston: Franklin Park History.”
26 City of Boston. “Franklin Park Master Plan Announced by
Mayor Walsh.”
27 Carlock, “Reed Hilderbrand to develop Franklin Park master
plan.”
28 Carlock, “Reed Hilderbrand to develop Franklin Park master
plan.”
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