OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS
CONTEXT
HISTORY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
SOCIAL ISSUES
PLANNING PROCESSES
TESTIMONIES

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OWNERSHIP:
City of Boston Department of Parks and Recreation

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CONDITIONS:
Fallon Field is 7.57 acres and contains a baseball field, a field used for football, lacrosse and rugby, a basketball court and hockey arena, each with bleachers, fences, and a mechanized score board, and a tennis court. There is also a tot-lot that was renovated in 2001 and is heavily used.

In part because it is located near the top of a hill and is bordered on three sides by somewhat moderately busy streets, Fallon Field is highly visible, open, and accessible. There is sculpted greenery within the park along walking paths. These paths are well-used by pedestrians, in part because they can cut travel time significantly. The wide sidewalk around the perimeter of the park is also heavily used by pedestrians.

Eight sets of lights tower over the park and a wrought-iron fence borders the park.

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CONTEXT:
Fallon Field is on the edge of both the Peters Hill and the Longfellow communities of Roslindale. It connects to the Arnold Arboretum via Walter Street. This connection is not currently emphasized, although parts of Walter Street already have a decidedly green character that could be extended past the Arboretum properties.

Fallon Field is immediately adjacent to the small commercial district near the corner of State Street and Walter Street. It is loosely connected to the large commercial area at Roslindale Village. Foot traffic to and from Roslindale Village runs through and along the edges of Fallon Field.

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HISTORY:
Fallon Field was originally known as Roslindale Playground. The playground included a large, open pavillion and was the site of a memorable fireworks display and barbeque each July 4th. A generation ago, the park was seasonally flooded for ice-skating, a practice which damaged the viability of the grass during the warmer months. Fallon Field underwent a period of neglect and decline that has been addressed in recent years with major park improvements. The tot-lot along the northern edge of the playground was renovated with $190,000 in City funds and reopened in July 2001.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
According to Jane Lewis, member of the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association, since 2000 the City has removed two large trees in the vicinity of Fallon Field: one elm tree on South Street and one copper beech on the field itself. Community members are concerned about this, and would like the trees to be replaced.

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SOCIAL ISSUES:
Although Boston Police consider the Longfellow area one of the safest in the city, close neighbors have complained of drug and alcohol use on Fallon Field and loud talk late into the night (Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association 2002 Newsletter).

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PLANNING PROCESSES:
There is an ongoing effort by local residents to create an inventory of the street trees and to facilitate connections between Fallon Field and the Arnold Arboretum. Jane Lewis of the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association plans to plant street trees to accentuate this connection. Right now individuals are adding trees but there is no coordinated effort.

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TESTIMONIES:
"Fallon Field looks better than I remember it: no litter, a smooth playing surface. Though it was winter when I walked it, the field appeared to be of real grass. In the old days the outfield was flooded for ice skating, and sun shining through ice murdered the grass, leaving only plantain and other weeds" (Peter Anderson, "Roslindale Remembered," The Boston Globe Magazine, July 1990).

"I want to repeat the need for more trees, green connections, and somehow a green link of trees ringing Fallon Field, up Walter to the Arboretum, and perhaps in the other direction toward the lovely little park in the center of Roslindale. Personally, I believe that trees have a cooling and calming effect on us in our built-up areas and are not simply decoration but a necessary balance in our lives, filtering the air and noise, shading and adding value with their presence. People are happier around them!" (Jane Lewis, Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association).

"The tennis courts have been converted to basketball courts and a street hockey rink, which is all right, because Roslindale is not a tennis town. We used the tennis courts for our kind of squash and maybe for stickball. I remember the evening of a big game, the crowd overflowing the grand stand up onto the hill, when pa per boys went through the crowd selling the afternoon Globe with the headline "JAPS SURRENDER." Just outside the tennis courts, the city has built a miniature playground for toddlers. Mothers with toddlers were engaged in play on the winter day when I walked there. Except for some trees, dead from old age and road salt, Fallon Field looks remarkably good, credit for which must go not to the Greeks but to City Hall" (Peter Anderson, "Remembering Roslindale," The Boston Globe Magazine, March 18, 1990).

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