Rose Kennedy Greenway

....The lot where the Holocaust memorial now is would have been a great site for a Flatiron-style building....
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I personally think that the new wharf parks would have been a perfect site for the Holocaust memorial.
 
justin said:
The lot where the Holocaust memorial now is would have been a great site for a Flatiron-style building that would define the edge of Congress St. and close in the Blackstone block. As it is, that area continues to suffer from space leakage.
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In the late 1960s a motel/office building was proposed for the Holocaust memorial site. You can see an illustration over on my blog. As it stands, I think that area is just fine--almost any building on that block would put the Blackstone block in permanent shadow. If anything, the current layout sucks people through Marshall's Lane, which is a good thing because it is one of the few places in Boston one can really feel the colonial street pattern.
 
I was going through the Boston Museum website and clicked on the link to Moshe's own website. He has quite a few projects in Boston/Cambridge. Some are very interesting, like the North Station master plan and the Wharf Parks master plan. Anyone know when these were proposed? Also, what do you guys think of Moshe's water dominated Wharf Parks plan? Here's the link to make everyone's life easier: http://www.msafdie.com/
 
Here is a link to the BRA map for the 1964 Government Center Urban Renewal.

Also the big dig is looking pretty lately. Lots of new trees, shrubs, streetlights, and sidewalks. It looks great.

I can't believe they are using brick for all the sidewalks. Obviously the brick sidewalks will not be maintained properly and people will be tripping and falling over the bricks in a few years.
 
Look harder. It's the space between "1964" and "Government"


Oh my god did it work, did it actually work?
 
Also the big dig is looking pretty lately. Lots of new trees, shrubs, streetlights, and sidewalks. It looks great.

The above is all well and good but what about the sidewalk cafes with their colorful banners and umbrellas, the assorted street vendors selling hot dogs, sausages, ice cream, flowers, bagels, balloons, etc., the other vendors selling their assorted wares and souvenirs, all those things that bring activity, energy, color which attract your attention and draw you in! I know that it's still very early in the process and that these things take time. But have any street vendor's even arrived yet? I can only hope that by the summers end, the street vendors will have begun sprouting like mushrooms on a damp morning. I at least hope that an active Farmer's Market in front of South Station, that the China Town park and North End parks will set the tone for the rest of the Greenway and be full of people, cafes, bistro's and street vendors. Am I asking for too much, too soon or will the Greenway be over regulated and evolve into beautiful, yet sterile place devoid of the usual urban activity found in Quincy Marketplace, Post Office Square, the Common and Public Garden?
 
People will not want to set up vendor carts or outdoor tables until construction is over. It's not a pleasant environment yet.
 
I would say wait until next summer before you judge the Greenway.

I can't believe they used brick on all the sidewalks, once water gets down into the poorly maintained(assuming they will be poorly maintained) sidewalk and freezes people will be tripping everywhere. I guess its better than concrete and less expensive than stone/granite.
 
The Globe said:
Big Dig's required parks said to lag
State official details many missing pieces

By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | June 13, 2006

The commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation is charging that Big Dig officials have failed to meet their legal obligation to complete a city parks system that they had promised in order to win support for the massive project.

In a scathing letter to Big Dig officials, Stephen Burrington, the department's commissioner, said the Big Dig has stopped design work on and has not yet begun construction of ``two pedestrian bridges, including one spanning the Charles River, and a DCR maintenance facility. Nor has it begun to rehab four crumbling, historic buildings on the Charles River Dam."

``Despite DCR's repeated requests . . . [the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority] has put these projects on hold and left their ultimate completion in jeopardy," Burrington wrote Big Dig project manager Michael Lewis June 8. The Globe obtained a copy of the letter last week .

Burrington threatened to ask state environmental authorities to step in if Big Dig officials do not comply with the requirements. The Department of Environmental Protection could rescind permits, order a timetable for completion of the projects, or impose substantial fines, state officials said.

Burrington's letter marks the latest chapter in a feud between the Romney administration and the Big Dig. In the past, Governor Mitt Romney has criticized managers of the huge project for cost overruns. In 2004, the governor also threatened to take over management of parklands created by the Big Dig.

But Big Dig officials said they have been making steady progress on what is called the New Charles River Basin Parks and intend to meet their obligations.

``The majority of the New Charles River Basin Parks have been completed or are under construction," said Thomas Farmer, Turnpike Authority spokesman. ``We remain committed to the required mitigation measures for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. We have been working very closely with the DCR, the Charles River Basin Parks Citizens Advisory Committee, the MBTA, the cities of Boston and Cambridge, as well as the property abutters, and will continue to do so until all issues are resolved and the work is complete."

Burrington, however, said that despite his ``good faith effort" to work with Big Dig officials on the park plan, ``there has been no movement on their end."

``Because it was one of the most complex transportation projects in history, the mitigation requirements were pretty carefully planned," he said in an interview. ``These were things that were to be done early on, before construction of the Zakim Bridge. Here we are in 2006 and these things remain undone."

Burrington said he fears that money allotted for the park system will run out and Big Dig officials will feel they have no obligation to complete unfinished projects.

``The whole concept of this park complex was to extend the Esplanade down to Boston Harbor, so people would be able to walk to the harbor along the North End. If you don't have these connections, that can't happen, and you'll end up with isolated park parcels tucked in odd locations," Burrington said.

To secure the necessary environmental permits for the $14.6 billion project, Big Dig officials agreed to create parks, landscaped open space, and other public areas at a cost of $300 million. Costs for the parks, originally set at $80 million in 1993, have grown to $98 million, officials said.

More than 40 acres of new parkland have been planned for either side of the Charles River between the dam near the Museum of Science and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. Many of these have been completed or will soon be completed, including North Point Park on the Cambridge side, Nashua Street Park near Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, and Lovejoy Wharf under the Zakim Bridge.

But according to Burrington, Big Dig officials are now spending their money on landscaping and paving, instead of the construction of a planned new pedestrian bridge spanning the Charles River and another connecting the parks on the Boston side, from the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center to land beneath the Zakim Bridge.

In addition, the Big Dig demolished a Department of Conservation and Recreation maintenance facility on the Cambridge-Boston line, promising to build a new one at another location . But the facility was never built, and department crews have been working in temporary trailers on the site for nearly 10 years, state officials said.

Also, the Big Dig agreed to renovate four buildings at the Charles River Dam near the Museum of Science including the State Police headquarters, stables, and boathouse. They are in disrepair and need attention, Burrington said.

``Demolition of the historic buildings by neglect is flatly inconsistent with MTA's legal obligation to renovate and rehabilitate the buildings," he wrote.

Anne Fanton of the Central Artery Environmental Oversight Committee, an independent panel set up in 1991 to monitor the project's mitigation obligations, called it essential that the remaining park projects be finished.

``There are commitments remaining unfunded that are critical to connecting the parks to one another and to completing the new Charles River Basin parks as promised," she said. ``It is essential that the Central Artery/Tunnel project and DCR reach agreement on the cost of these remaining commitments."

Robert O'Brien, a member of the New Charles River Basin Citizens Advisory Committee, said he was surprised by the letter.

``It was my understanding they were making some progress," he said.

``I'm somewhat surprised that people are threatening things. These are complicated issues that aren't easy to resolve and may take more money than is on the table. Progress is required, but I thought progress was being made."
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From friday:

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Is that the 'water feature' by the Aquarium?

justin
 
The first two pictures look like areas built up, filled with shrubs and separated from pedestrians by low-rise granite walls. Maybe it's just me but I was expecting something different, like comfortable park benches to sit on, park areas to walk into, not around, stuff like that. I know this is just the beginning and maybe the first two pictures were just taken from angles that didn't show things in proper perspective but those first two pictures don't give me a good feeling. Hopefully, the rest of the Greenway will be much different when it is built out. Thanks for the pictures.
 
I've walked up and down the Greenway a couple of times in the last few weeks, and the quality of a lot of the brickwork for the sidewalks is really poor. As an example, check out the new sidewalk in front of Rowes Wharf and the adjacent building housing Goulston Storrs. My first thought on seeing it was "it looks like I did this!" (I tend to attempt grand construction projects around my house with no experience, knowledge or plan.) The pavers are laid in patterns that are supposed to consist of straight lines, but it looks like the mason who laid them was drunk. It's so frustrating to see the finish details of this project look like crap.
 
I get the feeling that since a lot of work is in progress and there's very little media attention surrounding it, other than negative articles, the end result is going to be anything but grand. It's really disappointing.
 
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