In the heart of the North Allston residential neighborhood, a small and heavily-used pocket park has great potential to be improved in several important ways, increasing community engagement and the local environment. For some neighborhoods, a 0.04 acre park might hardly merit notice. But in this City of Boston park, known as James Collins Square, can have an impact on the community that is much bigger than its size. Collins Square is in close proximity to two elementary schools (the public Gardner Pilot Academy and the private German International School of Boston), Saint Anthony’s Church, and urban amenities including a convenience store, mailbox, and laundromat. The park is also bordered by well-traveled secondary streets – Holton Street and Franklin Street which are used by hundreds of neighbors each day on their way to school or work. Expanding upon our existing relationships with the nearby schools we look forward to involving the students as appropriate in the hands-on implementation of this project. Collins Square is dominated by two mature trees (pine and honeylocust), three yews, and a few other shrubs and perennials. Particularly because several large trees on private property have been cut down in recent years, Collins Square should have a valuable role as a place of natural shade, beauty, and refuge for birds. In our densely-settled neighborhood, little Collins Square is the only park that can be accessed without crossing a major road. Neighbors visit the park for a place to sit and read, to enjoy a bit of nature, or to give their dogs a place to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, this latter use often becomes a mis-use of the park when people do not pick up after their dogs. An unglamorous but key part of our project will be the installation of dispenser for dog waste bags, signage, and replacing the rusting 60-gallon drum that currently serves as a trash can. We will also increase personal outreach to dog owners at the park, thanking them when they properly dispose of the dog waste. The heavy foot traffic through the park and extensive root systems of the trees has left too little top-soil for other plants. We therefore have designed a raised planting bed that will be built from granite curbing. The raised bed will discourage dogs from entering this planting area and hold new top soil needed for successful planting of new shrubs. In the past, Collins Square has been home to birds that have built nests in the trees and shrubs. We would like to enhance this aspect of the park by installing bird houses on metal posts attached to the existing chain link fence. With the large population of outdoor cats in our neighborhood, the birds need all the help they can get. By providing water, native berry-producing shrubs (serviceberry, viburnum, etc) , and safe shelter we can maximize the park’s potential as a natural bird habitat. Finally, by adding new sculptural benches under the shade of the pine tree and a Bill Wainwright sculpture (whose studio is across the street from Collins Square) we will complement the park’s natural beauty with man-made art and the opportunity for more neighbors to enjoy the space. This project is being done in partnership with the Friends of Fern Square (Collins Square is also known as Fern Square, as one of the abutting roads is Fern Street).