Raymond V. Mellone Park
Adjacent to the popular Honan-Allston branch of the Boston Public Library, Raymond V. Mellone Park accommodates a wide range of uses within its 1.75-acre footprint. Commissioned by Harvard University, the park serves residents of lower Allston and comprises a series of clearly articulated spaces: an event lawn ringed by columnar trees, a sprawling open lawn for recreation, an outdoor classroom, a reading circle, and a hilltop gathering place.
The park will eventually act as the western terminus for the future Harvard-Allston Greenway, a landscape connecting the adjacent residential neighborhoods to the Charles River through Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus.
The library staff and other constituents played a significant role in defining the park’s program. Outdoor classrooms and intimately scaled reading nooks with stone benches extend the library into the landscape. A circuit of looping paths functions as a daily walking route for nearby residents.
The park also establishes a series of sustainable initiatives for the future greenway, incorporating LED lighting, organic maintenance regimes, habitat restoration, and natural management of stormwater runoff through sunken rain gardens filled with water-loving plants.
