In the heart of the city, a fight brews over whatâs needed more: parkland or social services
By David Abel Globe Staff,Updated May 12, 2021, 9:22 a.m.
Email to a Friend
For decades, the austere hospital has stood as a monument to poor urban planning, critics say,
a brick-covered eyesore looming over the cityâs largest park and an enduring affront to Frederick Law Olmstedâs Emerald Necklace.
Yet the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital and surrounding buildings on a 13-acre campus carved out of a tree-shaded meadow in Franklin Park in the 1950s have long
provided essential medical care and social services that would be difficult to place elsewhere.