Farlow Park

Client
City of Newton

Farlow Park is the oldest park in Newton and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It originally featured graceful strolling paths and a wooden victorian bridge which traversed a placid pond for quiet reflection. The original reflection pond is currently filled soil and seeded with lawn.

The original Adirondack-style wooden bridge was replaced with a concrete slab structure with chain link rails. RDLA was hired by the City of Newton to return the historic Pond and Bridge back to its former grandeur. Working together with the Friends of Farlow Park and the City of Newton, RDLA led a team of structural, electrical and civil engineers to recreate the once idyllic pond and bridge.

The new prefabricated bridge structure design interprets the intent of the original design without replicating it. Contemporary needs such as universal accessibility have been incorporated into the bridge design. In our design, the pond was restored to a reflective water body.