COMMON SPACES ON THE COMMON
By SHOSHANA AKINS
Mayor Tom Menino wants to develop buildings effeminately named the "Pink Palace" and the "Duck House," which have sat feral on Boston Common for 30 years, but it's a process that requires the approval of the Boston Conservation Commission, Boston Park Commission, the Boston City Council and the State Legislature.
It looks like the ball will finally get rolling, with a presentation this week before the Boston Conservation Commission. Then again, this decades-old idea was announced almost a year ago and this is the plan's first definitive action ... so the rolling might be more of a crawl.
Before these spaces can be leased for park amenities, state historic preservation law requires that the Legislature approve any plans to release publicly owned conservation lands to other ventures. Then, if the propositions become a reality, the city needs to offer us citizens new public space in exchange for the privately owned land, according to Mass. Audubon legislative director Jennifer Ryan. "If concessions on the Boston Common are found to be a change of use [from conservation], then the city would need to find comparable park space," she says. This doesn't necessarily apply to the Duck House, Ryan says, as long as the new structure is "consistent with the existing footprint" of the building. The city allowed the public to submit Requests for Expressions of Interest until mid-January (so it's too late to recommend a rental jetpack facility), but no final decisions have been announced.
The Duck House, a 113-year-old public sanitation building, has taken a beating. After a 1986 fire that severely destroyed the building's innards, it became a target for vandalism and graffiti. The Pink Palace, which served as a "men's comfort station" in the early 20th century and currently serves as a leaning post for the Commonwealth's homeless, might be renovated into a warm-weather restaurant. According to Parks Department director Margaret Dyson, bids are already being offered, but nothing's been accepted.
The Conservation Commission's approval is the first of a series of bureaucratic hurdles, and the outlook is good, says executive secretary Chris Busch. "The Commission generally looks favorably on projects that enhance public space and public resources, and draw the public to park land within the city," he says. "And from what I understand, that is the intent of this proposal?to improve some of these historic buildings and resources in the parkland and to increase the public's experience in those."
