statler
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I'm surprised the 'new' forum has made this far without a City Hall plaza thread.
So here goes...
Visitors enjoyed the fountain in its early days. (Globe Staff File Photo / 1970 / Elizabeth Jones)
Eventually the water and crowds stopped flowing. (Globe Staff File Photo / 2004 / David L. Ryan)
Possibilities for the new slab include concerts, tables with umbrellas, and vendors selling food. (Globe Staff Photo / Wendy Maeda)
So here goes...
LinkThe Globe said:Fount of futility finally runs dry
City Hall Plaza eyesore gets a concrete solution
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | June 9, 2006
It was to be a fountain that would soothe the soul, draw crowds, and serve as a paean to the great public space brought by urban renewal. Set in the brick tundra of City Hall Plaza, it never seemed to work quite as planned. Filters failed, motors didn't work, water leaked into the subway tunnel below.
For nearly four decades, it's been little more than a headache to mayors and the city maintenance crews who tried to fix it or otherwise put it to use. Now comes the latest solution. It has been paved over.
A gray concrete slab the size of a baseball infield has been laid over the sunken terraces meant to flow with rippling water, and city officials couldn't be happier.
``I think it's great," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday. ``That thing was a boondoggle from day one."
The fountain, like the plaza that is its home (once chosen as the worst public space in the world by the nonprofit group Project for Public Spaces), has been more often the butt of jokes than a public gathering place.
Barely a week after the fountain was first turned on in 1969, the filtration system malfunctioned and, according to one writer, the fountain spewed ``brown and green foam that no duck would wet his feathers in." Problems flowed, and officials have tested their wits against its fickle 90-horsepower motors and the 61 nozzles that have been choked with everything from beer cans to brassieres.
At one point, in a fit of mayoral determination, Menino ordered a garden hose with a sprinkler installed to make it look as if it were operating correctly. That idea was dropped after water leaked into the subway tunnel.
Against such a backdrop, the latest attempt has been greeted with something like relief, and zealous backing at City Hall.
``People are saying what a breath of fresh air this is and that the plaza looks just fantastic," said Michael Galvin, the city's commissioner of property and construction management.
The slab was installed by the MBTA, which plans to use a portion of the plaza for construction between the Government Center and Bowdoin T stops.
But that isn't stopping city officials from touting the concrete solution, saying it will stay put three to five years, maybe longer.
They invoke elaborate possibilities: Concerts, tables with umbrellas, vendors selling food. On Mondays and Wednesdays next month, there will be a farmer's market on the plaza, and selected artists can sell their wares.
``It has the possibilities to become a new event space for the city," said Julie Burns, the city's director of arts, tourism, and special events. ``It'll be a great spot to come and get your vegetables, listen to music, have a seat and maybe a lemonade."
At the 24th Annual Scooper Bowl earlier this week, strategically located on the edge of the new concrete, several passersby had other ideas.
Anna Adler, who often takes lunch breaks on the plaza, suggested a dance floor, a merry-go-round, or an ice skating rink, anything to take up the space.
``This doesn't work," she said of the bare concrete. ``This doesn't make you want to be here."
Added Derek Salvatore of Somerville: ``It's a step away from a parking lot. It's a slab."
But few lamented the demise of the fountain.
``I've probably been here a million times, and, to be honest, I've never noticed the fountain," said Karen Valente, who works across the street and was taking a break with pretzels and bottled water. ``It can't be that good of an attraction."
Donovan Slack of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
Visitors enjoyed the fountain in its early days. (Globe Staff File Photo / 1970 / Elizabeth Jones)
Eventually the water and crowds stopped flowing. (Globe Staff File Photo / 2004 / David L. Ryan)
Possibilities for the new slab include concerts, tables with umbrellas, and vendors selling food. (Globe Staff Photo / Wendy Maeda)