Landscape Architect Articles

LASN Stewardship Feb 200402-01-04 | News

Many Donate Time, Funds to
Revitalize Boston Elementary Schools

By Jodie Carter

An ornamental planter, graced with hundreds of mosaic tiles created by students, was built through the Boston Schoolyard Initiative.

The Boston Schoolyard Initiative is a public/private venture conceived in 1994 to revitalize the city?EUR??,,????'???s 177 schoolyards. East Boston has some of smallest open spaces in the city, and so creating a schoolyard that could be used by students and residents is a primary goal of the project.

The O?EUR??,,????'???Donnell Schoolyard Committee partnered with the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), a local community development cooperation raising money and working with the landscape architect to make the schoolyard a reality. Landscape architects with the Copley Wolff Design Group donated extra time, including after hours field trips, educating and collaborating with Boston students on the project. The National Guard also donated time for demolition work at the schoolyard.

The initiative was created to form a partnership involving local communities, school children, parents, advocacy groups, designers and city government in planning, building and maintaining schoolyard improvements.

Each schoolyard is designed as a shared resource with the community, reflecting the culture and history of the neighborhood in the design. This inclusive design model reflects the needs of the students, neighbors and educators, giving them a sense of pride and stewardship for the final product. The community previously underutilized many of these schoolyards, and their reconditioning has contributed to the much-needed open spaces in the city.

The Boston schoolyard playgrounds will entertain enthusiastic kids for years.

Over the past several years, Copley Wolff Design Group has been selected by school committees to design schoolyards at the Hennigan, Jackson Mann, Murphy, and O?EUR??,,????'???Donnell Schools, and planning additional play spaces at the Fuller, Conley, Emerson and Garfield Schools.

The O?EUR??,,????'???Donnell School has been created as a multi-use environment that includes a vegetable and perennial garden, ball court, a play structure, and an ornamental gate based on students designs. It was the first project in the Boston Schoolyard Initiative and is the prototype for community design of Boston schools.

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Copley Wolff Design Group is a landscape architecture and planning studio located in downtown Boston, specializing in parks and recreation, urban landscapes, corporate and institutional, waterfronts and resorts. Their specialties include children?EUR??,,????'???s play and discovery landscapes, integration of art, cultural and historic interpretation, environmental education, landmark destinations, and community participation.