Today, Icon Parks Design, the landscape architecture firm selected by the Boston Facilities Department to design the new play spaces at the the Charles Sumner Elementary School, unveiled three site proposals. This marks a major milestone for the Sumner, which has been undergoing more limited playground expansion planning for several years and endured arson of its previous play structure in 2015. All three proposals envision a major expansion of the play area via redesigns of four outdoor spaces in the schoolyard:
- The main play area behind the school, the site of the previous play structure
- The side lot adjacent to the kindergarten classrooms, currently in use as a paved play area
- The underused evacuation pathway to Cummins Highway
- The small yards adjacent to the main entrance, which will be redesigned as “pocket” play areas