The Olmsted Network is excited to welcome Marjorie Greville to our board of directors. Greville has a background in urban landscape design and lived in the U.S., Australia, Singapore and England before settling down in coastal New England. She divides her time between South Dartmouth and Boston, MA. 

Greville joins us at a critical time when many Olmsted parks are being threatened by private development, and she comes with exactly the skills and experience needed. For the last decade, she has served on the board of Emerald Necklace Conservancy to protect Olmsted’s beloved Boston park system.  

Q: You’ve been involved with landscape architecture and urban design for your entire career. What was your first encounter with Frederick Law Olmsted? 

A: I first read a biography of Olmsted in the 1970s in New York when I was in the City College Urban Landscape Architecture program— and of course Central Park was a major interest. 

Q: How have you been involved in protecting Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace?  

A: I joined the Emerald Necklace Conservancy in 2013 to help create the Olmsted Tree Management Plan and the Olmsted Tree Society. Our goal was to improve tree maintenance throughout the park system and to create a record of the number and types of trees in our care, their condition and history. We entered in Memoranda of Understanding with our 3 public partners— the Parks & Recreation Department City of Boston, Town of Brookline Parks and Open Space, and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation— to match 50-50 expenditures on tree care. This arrangement has been very successful, with the list of trees expanded to over 10,000 and the public understanding of the importance of tree care improved.  

Since 2019, with the decision by the State to demolish Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, which sits on 13 acres of land formally part of Franklin Park, we have advocated for the return of this land to the park. This advocacy included efforts to engage the neighborhoods abutting Franklin Park to understand their chance to regain parkland and the concerns about the proposed replacement substance abuse campus. Currently, we are also spearheading the effort to protect White Stadium in the Playstead section of Franklin Park from privatization by a lease proposed by Mayor Michelle Wu to a Women’s Soccer League. The White Stadium dispute revolves around the interpretation of Massachusetts Article 97 protections for public open space. We have filed a petition with 20 citizen plaintiffs and the ENC to protect the park. 

Q: Do you have a favorite stretch of Boston’s Emerald Necklace? 

A: I often walk through the Back Bay Fens section. If I lived nearer, I would definitely walk through Franklin Park the most. 

Q: As someone who has lived internationally, have you seen evidence of Olmsted’s principles reflected abroad? 

A: I think Central Park has had a great international influence and most people are aware it was designed by Olmsted. Also: the concept of urban open space planning is international, and you can credit Olmsted with contributing to that movement. 

Q: Elevator pitch time: In a couple of sentences, explain why Olmsted’s parks and principles remain important now. 

A: Olmsted wrote that public spaces where all classes and ages mix contribute to healthy communities. He also believed that proximity to nature was important for healthy minds and bodies. These concepts are still important today. 

You can learn more about all our board members here. You can learn more about Olmsted Network’s advocacy here.