Franklin Park Management Plan Needed!

Since the re-birth of the Franklin Park Coalition in 1997, the organization's board and membership have sought a written mangement policy for the park to ensure that the landscape, regular park users, and the many facilities are protected. Several years ago a consulting firm was hired to create a plan. The Boston Parks Department felt this 2002 plan (check it out, there's some good recommendations and information) was inadequate and the work for a finalized document languished.

Two years ago, responding to FPC requests, the Boston Parks Department again began work on a management plan, you can read the First Draft and the second draft in individual sections:  Special Events;  Transportation; and Maintenance. 

Soon after the Franklin Park Coalition took responsibility to raise funds and complete a Woodlands Restoration Plan. A licensed forester/arborist was hired, a woodlands survey completed, and a plan was drafted. Prior to approval, the Boston Parks Department, our partner in the effort to restore the park's 200 acres of forest, has requested that we work on a demonstration project together to test practices outlined in the draft Woodlands Management Plan. If you're really interested, email us for the appendices of plant lists, tree data, path erosion, and more.

You can also read earlier documents to gain a broader picture of park management. There's a 1989 Emerald Necklace Maintenance Operations Plan. The most recent (1991) Master Plan for Franklin Park offers an overview of how the park should be maintained. The documents are easy to peruse - check them out! 

A Transportation Study is currently underway for Franklin Park and surrounding areas. Consultant Anne McKinnon, from Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, a municipal planning group, has been hired by the Boston Parks Department to do the study. It will include parking, public transit, bicycle and pedestrian, and traffic issues for the park. FPC public transit activists and representation from the Shattuck Hospital, the Zoo, the Boston Nature Center, and neighborhood groups around the park comprise the working group that will help plan and give input for the study. You can read the RFP outlining the scope of the study and the proposal from Howard/Stein-Hudson to learn more.

photo: Trolley along Blue Hill Avenue adjacent to Franklin Park. Many Coalition members tell childhood stories about riding the trolley to the park on Sundays to visit the Zoo, play in the woods, and have a hot dog from the old Refrectory.