John J. Lane Park
2015 Massachusetts Recreation and Park Association
Design of Facility Agency Award
Weston & Sampson's Design Studio collaborated with the Natick Conservation Commission and various other town and community stakeholders to forge a plan for the development of this new neighborhood park and playground. The project involved the creation of a children’s play area with seating and shelter for parents and supervisors. Meandering pathways were constructed to take advantage of the site’s naturally hilly terrain and beautiful tracts of woodlands. The pathways are functional in that they provide connections to all major park features and yet they are recreational in that they allow multiple options for traversing a loop within the confines of the property.
Historic block walls denoting an old entrance to a former armory were reconstituted as a major ceremonial gateway into the new park site and also formed the centerpiece of significant edge improvements along Speen Street, a major north-south connector road. Work also included the construction of a small park support structure, new parking areas, innovative stormwater management techniques, a pedestrian bridge crossing a resource area, and a variety of other passive and active recreational elements throughout the site.