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Parks and Open Space
Parks and Open Space
Community Planning staff are responsible for design, construction and renovation of the City's neighborhood parks. The staff consults with City departments and community groups about landscape architecture and park planning. Department staff participate actively on the City's Open Space Committee, along with representatives from the City Manager's Office, Conservation Commission, Disability Commission, Electrical Department, Public Works Department and the Recreation Division.
Park Maps
Cambridge has a wealth of public parks and playgrounds. Use the following maps to learn more about where locations and types of facilities. These files are in PDF format and require use of the free Adobe Acrobat viewer.
- Location map of Public Parks, Playgrounds, and Reservations (537 KB)
- Cambridge Waterplay Map, highlighting Cambridge parks with waterplay features, including sprinkler, spray and shower equipment. (270 KB)
Parks Viewer
The interactive Parks Viewer, maintained by the GIS staff, allows you to locate parks throughout the City of Cambridge and learn about park facilities, hours of operation and maintenance. In some cases, photos are available as well:
Go
to Cambridge Parks Viewer.
Note that the Parks Viewer works best if used with Internet Explorer.
Park Design and Construction Projects
Ongoing park design and construction projects include the following:
- Alexander W. Kemp Playground Renovation at Cambridge Common
- Clement Morgan Park and Pine Street Park Renovations
- Lopez Avenue / Charles Street Pocket Park Development
- New Park in Riverside
- Off Leash Dog Areas
Recently completed park design and construction projects include the following:
- Father Callanan Playground at Tobin School (complete 2008)
- Harvard Street Park Expansion/Greene • Rose Heritage Park. (complete 2008)
- Trolley Square Public Open Space (complete 2007)
- Alden Playground Improvements (complete 2006)
- Gold Star Mothers Park Improvements (complete 2006)
- Russell Field Improvements (complete 2006, DPW project)
- Cambridge Street Corridor Improvements including Millers River Park and Valente Library Park (complete 2005, DPW project)
- Charles Park Playstructure Replacement (complete 2005)
- Dana Park Renovation (complete 2004)
- Franklin Street Park (complete 2003, 2004 Landscape Architecture Editor's Choice Award winner)
- Lowell School Park Improvements (complete 2004)
- Maple Avenue Park (complete 2004)
- Squirrel Brand Park (complete 2004, DPW Project)
- Vellucci Community Plaza (complete 2004, DPW Project)
For more information on park design and construction projects see the Recent Open Space Annual Work Program
from 2000 to present.
Open Space Plan
In order to be eligible for open space grant funding from the state, a city or town must have a current and approved Five-Year Open Space and Recreation Plan filed with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. The current version of the Cambridge Open Space Plan covers the years 2003-2008.
- City of Cambridge Open Space and Recreation Plan 2003 – 2008 (4.4 MB)
- Pages 1 -13 (673 KB)
- Pages 14 - 24 (1.5 MB)
- Pages 25 - 43 (863 KB)
- Pages 44 - 99 and Addenda (1.8 MB)
The Green Ribbon Open Space Committee Report
In February 1999, the City Manager appointed the 17-member Green Ribbon Open Space Committee to develop criteria to guide the City's acquisition of additional open space. The Committee, with assistance from the Community Development Department and representatives from the City Manager's Office, the Recreation Division and the Public Works Department, analyzed open space needs and developed criteria for the future acquisition of open space in Cambridge. The Committee's findings are summarized and discussed in the report of the Committee.
Go
to the Green Ribbon Open Space Committee Report
Park Operation and Maintenance
Maintenance of City owned parks and open space is handled by the Division of Parks and Urban Forestry at the Public Works Department, with the exceptions noted below. For more information, call the Park Maintenance office at 617/349-4880, TDD at 617/349-4805, or visit the Parks Maintenance home page:
- For information about maintenance and operation of both the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Municipal Golf Course and Danehy Park contact the Recreation Division. For more information about the Golf Course call 617/349-6282. For more information about Danehy Park, call 617/349-4895.
- For information about the maintenance and operation of Fresh Pond Reservation contact the Cambridge Water Department at 617/349-4793.
- For information about recreation programs in Cambridge parks contact the Recreation Division at 617/349-6200. For information about athletic field permits, call 617/349-6238.
- For information about Community Gardens in Cambridge, contact the Conservation Commission at 617/349-4680.
- The Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Urban Parks and Recreation, a state park agency, owns, operates and maintains several popular Cambridge recreation areas, including the Charles River Esplanade, Fresh Pond Parkway, Alewife Brook Reservation and swimming pools at Magazine Beach and McCrehan Memorial Pool . For all information and inquiries about these parks, contact the agency directly at 617/727-5114x530.
- The State of Massachusetts Charles River Basin Master Plan is available through the Division of Urban Parks and Recreation.
- The Longfellow National Historic Site, located 105 Brattle Street, is owned, operated and maintained by the National Park Service. For all information about the Longfellow House, call 617/876-4491.
For More Information
For more information about the design and improvement of City parks, playgrounds and other open spaces, contact the local Neighborhood Planner:
- Taha Jennings, tjennings@cambridgema.gov, 617/349-4603.
Neighborhoods: Area 2/MIT, Cambridge Highlands, Cambridgeport, North Cambridge, Strawberry HIll, and West Cambridge, . - Jeff Roberts, jroberts@cambridgema.gov, 617/349-4639.
Neighborhoods: Agassiz, Area IV, East Cambridge, Mid-Cambridge, and Wellington-Harrington. - Elaine Thorne, ethorne@cambridgema.gov, 617/349-4648.
Neighborhoods: Area IV, Neighborhood Nine, Riverside, and West Cambridge. - Not sure in which neighborhood your park is located? Look at the Citywide Neighborhood Map to find out. (PDF format, 740KB)
For general information, contact your neighborhood planner. The Community Development Department TTY line is 617/349-4621.
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