The Parks Department will take its proposal for the redesign and upgrade of Library Park before the South End Historic District Commission (SEHDC) on Tuesday, January 2 at 5:30 PM. The public is invited and comments will be appreciated. The hearing will be held at the Piemonte Room in City Hall, located on the Fifth Floor.  A public hearing on the proposal was held at the South End library on November 29, 2017 and attended by a small but very engaged group of local residents.

At the November 29 hearing, Parks Department's project manager, Lauren Bryant, and Brandon Kunkel, landscape architect with the Weston & Sampson design and engineering firm, presented attendees with three proposals for Library Park's overhaul. Two designs preserved the current layout of the park, while the third offered a different configuration. The latter was the one favored by the audience, and that is the one that will be presented for review by the Parks Department. After deducting the cost of design services, the remaining budget for the reconfiguration is $115,000. 

In the proposal, the deteriorated bluestone pavement will be replaced with a new one made of shaded concrete. In addition, the patio between the library and the park's entrance will be expanded to accommodate outdoor events; two garden circles will be established on the Tremont Street side of the park; and curved benches and to-be-determined seating arrangements will be included, together with substantial infrastructure improvements. 

With public and SEHDC comments in mind, the Parks Department will produce a final design which is scheduled to be put out to bid sometime in February. Construction, weather permitting, will start in March. The park is scheduled to reopen in late summer. Further information can be obtained at the Parks Department website, linked here.