What you see is essentially what was there before the garage. Most of the Common had very few trees originally...it was common grazing land for cattle. In the 19th C, tree-lined malls were planted to encircle the Common. It was a favorite promenade for the residents of Beacon Hill, Park St. and Colonnade Row on Tremont St. (before commercial buildings took hold). Remnants of the malls can be seen along Boylston and Park Sts. The Tremont St. mall was particularly beautiful and lush, but was cut down in order to put in the first subway in America, from Park to Boylston. The Arlington St. and Charles St. malls have also suffered over the years.
When grazing became less important, the Common was planted with many trees. In fact, the Parkman Bandstand used to be surrounded by concentric circles of tall American elms...quite impressive, until they died of Dutch elm disease. Most were cut down forty years ago. One or two might be left, but imagine the canopy of leaves in that area; I remember complete shade in the summer.
Parts of the Charles St. mall were taken over to accommodate the ramps going into and out of the garage, and only recently replanted with trees. The fence was also restored on this side of the Common. But the parade ground remained just that...the place where the militia used to gather for marching maneuvers. To my knowledge, that section of the Common never had many trees for that reason.
The original kiosks for the garage were modernist/ugly buildings. When the garage was repaired, new and larger kiosks were built. The architect took design cues from the little stone building that used to be public toilets, but has long since been abandoned and is beginning to fall apart. In my opinion, the new kiosks lack imagination and are too repetitive in their design.
