Area 12: Reading Room (the triangle across from the library)

Area 12: Reading Room:
$5,000 - $6,000
Costs include mowing and herbicide application, pathway construction, sign installation.

This small, low-lying parcel provides a connection between the park and Helen Binney Kitchel Natural Area, located to the north and east of the park. It stands at the intersection of Harding Road and Sound Beach Avenue, adjacent to a heavily-travelled rotary. The stream feeding the Binney Park pond flows along the east and south sides of the Reading Room, and the remnants of a bituminous walkway lead visitors through the site along the stream edge. A few trees grow near the exterior edges, and a mass of Polyganum (Japanese knotweed) has infiltrated the stream edges. The area contains two stone benches, but is not signed. 

Scope of Work 

·      Continue to apply mechanical and chemical methods of controlling the Polyganum 

·      Construct a more substantial pathway through the site, connecting Sound Beach Avenue to Harding Road, along the stream edge 

·      Continue to maintain the trees 

·      Install an identification sign (see Park-Wide Projects, discussed later in this section)