Smith Field reopens for business and pleasure
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh joined Katie Lapp, Harvard’s executive vice president, Ryan Woods, Boston parks and recreation commissioner, and others last week to celebrate the opening of Smith Field in Allston after extensive improvements. The $6.4 million renovation includes a state-of-the-art playground, new walking paths, a street hockey rink, playing fields, new lighting, benches, street improvements along Western Avenue, increased opportunities for public art, a spacious amphitheater, a “wheel-friendly” area for skateboards and bikes, and Boston’s first pump track. The Harvard Allston Public Realm Flexible Fund, a $5.35 million local grant program associated with Harvard’s 2013 Institutional Master Plan and community benefits planning process, contributed $1.9 million to the first phase of construction of the Smith Field project. It also approved $185,000 to expand the scope of the first phase and pay for its design. Harvard contributed an additional $700,000 to implement a connective pathway network, known as Longfellow Path, around...