In the summer of 2018, KZLA was engaged by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) to rehabilitate Lowell Memorial Park in Cambridge, MA. The park is named in memory of James Russell Lowell, a poet and statesman who lived at the adjacent estate. Lowell was one of the “Fireside Poets” which also included his neighbor, Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. The landscape was one of the first parcels purchased by the state to become part of the Fresh Pond Parkway. The park flanks the eastern end of the Parkway, creating a gateway. The Olmsted Brothers designed the Park in 1904, but as automobiles took over, the Parkway was widened and landscape features have lost their integrity.

The plans for restoration included improving universal accessibility in the park, restoring design intent to key features (i.e. brick and limestone walls and piers), restoring the planting plan, etc.

Community engagement played a strong role in this project including working with the Cambridge Garden Club members who have been critical in securing funding for the project.