Franklin Park spreads across 527 acres where Dorchester, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain meet, and a new 400-page city document made public on Tuesday features upgrades over decades on just about every foot of that green space, a key link in Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace.

The Franklin Park Action Plan is a roadmap for using a $23 million infusion of money delivered through the 2017 sale of a downtown garage to improve and maintain the parkland. In an official ceremony on the “ruins” that were once the location of the original Elma Lewis Playhouse, city officials and community members discussed the opportunities presented by the bountiful funding.

“Our goal is to ensure that Franklin Park today is as beautiful and accessible as any space in the city – one that really reflects the roots of this Olmsted treasure and one that will have a solid foundation for years and generations to come,” said Mayor Michelle Wu, who earned applause when she noted that a dedicated Franklin Park administrator would be hired to manage daily operations and projects across the park.

Ryan Woods, the city’s Parks Commissioner, said that the renewal effort began three years ago at a packed in-person meeting in the park that was followed by numerous online sessions and other forms of outreach. The vital spark was ignited by the city’s sale of its vacant Winthrop Square Garage downtown, with $28 million from the sale going to Boston Common operations, and $28 million set aside for Franklin Park.

Woods said that $5 million of the money designated for the park has already been put into an endowment that will be used for repairs and maintenance. Already, he noted, some $400,000 has been used this fall for maintenance needs.

“We’re excited to have a plan with funding already attached to it,” said Woods. “It’s not a plan that will just go on a shelf. We have money behind it. We will need more money, though. When you have such a big plan and a park with 527 acres, $23 million will go quickly. We are going to need philanthropy and funding in the capital budget, too.”

Landscape architect Liza Meyers said it would be a constantly evolving plan. “I think it’s safer to say this is a forever plan,” she said. “The plan looks out 20 to 30 years. But we’ll always want to hear about people’s priorities and changes in needs.”

One high-priority, early action item popular with Dorchester and Mattapan folks is the build-out of a new Elma Lewis Playhouse. Woods noted that community input frequently mentioned the days when the Playhouse was in the “ruins” and jazz legends like Duke Ellington played there.

While the Franklin Park Coalition has kept that spirit alive with Tuesday night concerts in the summer, the setup requires a diesel generator for power and a portable stage that must be organized every week. The Action Plan contemplates building a permanent structure where the old Playhouse used to be.

“The idea is to keep that positive energy but move it back into the area that was the original Playhouse and have it amongst the ruins and put in a stage and have electricity,” said Woods. “Once the infrastructure is in place, it can be anything, and host anything.”

At the ceremony, Franklin Park Coalition President Rickie Thompson said he and his organization were really looking forward to a refurbished Playhouse. “We plan to be part of supporting the implementation of this plan,” he said in noting that the “Coalition sponsors many of the events in Franklin Park, including the Elma Lewis Playhouse…That’s why we’re particularly interested in the restoration of this site, where the original Playhouse was established in 1966 by Elma Lewis herself.”

Another key change under the plan is a new “Front Porch” design for Peabody Circle at Blue Hill Avenue across from Columbia Road. Like the Bear Dens area in Jamaica Plain, Peabody Circle is owned by the state. Meyers said the first steps in the process will be to attempt to transfer state ownership of both parcels to Boston Parks and Recreation. After that, they hope to open the Blue Hill Avenue entrance and make it more inviting as the park’s “front porch.”

“The plan includes ideas for integrating a terraced sitting area in the part that comes down from Refectory Hill,” she said. “That section with Blue Hill Avenue is the only business district up against the park. There are commercial activities and community spaces along the avenue, and we want to think about how we make connections to help people feel invited into the park. We’re not going to remove the wall, but there might be places where the wall can be more open.”

The same can be said for the plan’s treatment of the corner of Seaver and Blue Hill Avenue – making sure there are better pedestrian connections to established entrances.

For all the positive vibes, there is some budding controversy between the JP side of the park and the Dorchester side over what to do with Circuit Drive. The Action Plan contemplates closing the roadway to cars periodically, or even permanently, a notion that is unpopular on the Dorchester side of the park. Many have said a lack of input from Dorchester and Mattapan led to that being included. On the other hand, it is a very popular idea coming from those on the JP end of the park.

Mariama White-Hammond, Boston’s chief of Environment, said many studies must be done before anything concrete happens, but she acknowledged that some change will occur.

“I know we’ve all needed to get somewhere quickly and have not always treated Circuit Drive like it is a promenade through a park,” she said. “We do need to study more, but at a minimum there will be things like traffic calming to prioritize pedestrians and people in the park and not just turn this into a parkway that people drive through…At a minimum we need to slow those speeds down so individuals walking, running, or sitting in the park don’t feel like it’s dangerous to move from one side to the other.”

Woods and Meyer said the future of Circuit Drive isn’t an early action item and is something they are studying, but they said closing the road either short-term or long-term is in the plan, but it’s not a Phase 1 plan or something that will happen right away.

The Action Plan has been posted online at the project website, with the comment period ending on Feb. 10. Wu said they wanted to get as many comments as possible before the deadline as they need “immediate first steps to feed into next year’s Capital Budget.”