Copley Square

tmac9wr

tmac9wr

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
1,444
Reaction score
63
I've been working in the Hancock Tower for about 4 months now, and the entire time there has been big chain-link fences surrounding the grass on Copley Square. The fountains aren't on either. Does anyone know why? Is this something that they do every year for winter?

To go with that, the asphault right in front of Trinity Church is all torn up and looks like crap. Copley Square is supposed to be one of the nicest parts of our city, how is it allowed to look so terrible?
 
You read my mind. I was wondering the same thing this morning. It's incredibly uninviting at the moment and I haven't seen any information on it here (that I can remember... which means there is likely information on it somewhere on this forum).
 
They re-sod the grass late summer, last year. I would guess that they will take down the chain-link fence either before the Marathon, or, more likely, after the Marathon.

It will look great!
 
Given what the weather was like yesterday, it's just as well they didn't turn on the fountain yet. Don't want the pipes to freeze.
 
I know some people here will scoff/be skeptical..but when I was in town in March, I saw the empty fountain @ copley serve as a nice little playground for skateboarders. It's not exactly of historical significance (how many times have they redone the square?), so I've got no problem with it.
 
(said with completely fucking straight face, the way it was said to me) The chain link fence is one element of the Mayor's Together we CAN/Cities Are Neighborhoods initiative, meant to draw people out of their homes and into the public spaces.

(If you recall, last October-ish saw the square closed, tented off and security-forced up before the lawn was trampled to death during an elite, all-evening affair that somehow took days to prep. Apparently, a certain landowner immediately, ahem, adjacent, was not amused when the City belatedly told them the fence was staying through spring, and that the sod wasn't being replaced immediately----the way this group understood the situation to be.)

The fountain always drains around Columbus Day and is turned back on around Patriots Day. It's a little cold this year though, maybe they'll wait.

EDITED TO SAY:

BTW, if you're inspired, email your electeds and neighborhood associations, tell them what you think about this (politely!) The fence has been nothing but a blight for months. Between this and eternal MBTA war zone, it's really trivialized all the work the Back Bay Association, NABB, the churches, the BPL and others have done to try and revitalize/keep alive the windy chasm of Copley Square. Meg Cohen at the BBA, Ann Gleason at NABB, Councilor Mike Ross, State Rep Marty Walz.
 
Forget the fence! I'm tired of skipping around the potholes on the Boylston St. sidewalk. Maybe the city is waiting for someone to break an ankle on the disintegrated triangular slate blocks some brilliant designer installed for "color and texture contrast" before they replace them with granite (more likely asphalt)?
 
Here's how it looks as of 2:45 on Thursday April 23rd:

constr.jpg

blocks.jpg

truck-1.jpg


And the money shot, from all the way up on floor 3 of the Hancock...I keep getting nosebleeds from the altitude!
the20view.jpg
 
Well they were finally starting to dig up that crummy piece of asphalt in front of Trinity Church today, so it looks like they're going to fix this baby up after-all.
utf-8BYmFja2hvZS5qcGc.jpg


They also put the fountains on, yet they didn't remove any of the fencing. Seeing a bunch of humans enclosed by a fence with a plot of water in the middle almost looked like they were in a zoo of some kind...
utf-8BSU1HMDAxMTktMjAwOTA0MjctMTM0M.jpg
 
VICTORY! I beat City Hall! I'm sure my original question is what inspired the city officials to take care of this situation:
utf-8BSU1HMDAxNjEtMjAwOTA0MjktMTMyN.jpg


utf-8BSU1HMDAxNjItMjAwOTA0MjktMTMyN.jpg


They're still fixing up the asphalt in front of Trinity Church...I'm pretty sure they're going to erect a statue of me commemorating my work here. I'm pumped.
 
Sweet! I wonder if they'll give me the option to switch the scepter for a beer...as the new King of Copley, these are the questions I need answered.
 
Where can I get an Ozymandias trophy like that!?
 
The current iteration is the best Copley Square ever, but it's still a miss. Why can't anyone come to grips with this place and get it right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top