Council hires consultant to develop Thompson Park plan

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WATERTOWN — City Council took a first step on Monday night to come up with a blueprint for Thompson Park.

Council members approved a $135,000 contract with two consultants to come up with a master plan for Thompson Park.

Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners PPLC, New York City, and GYMO Architecture, Engineering & Land Surveying, Watertown, will work together to complete the study.

Before the vote, Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith said that Starr Whitehouse has experience working on other Olmsted parks, including Central Park in New York City.

The city-owned historic park was designed in the early 20th century by John and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York City’s Central Park and many other parks throughout the United States.

The consultants will conduct an inventory and analysis of the park, get input from the public and determine a final plan development for the study.

In recent years, the city has focused on enhancing and adding trails in the park and removing buckthorn, an invasive species that has gobbled up lawns in the historic city park for decades.

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