http://swanboatspavilioncompetition.com/
Beacon Hill Times article:
http://www.beaconhilltimes.com/#ST3930
Beacon Hill Times article:
http://www.beaconhilltimes.com/#ST3930
Ideas sought for Public Garden pavilion, duck house by Sandra Miller
There?s a reason why all those water colorists and other artists, including singer Tony Bennett, lined along the Swan Boat lagoon never paint the pavilion. The Swan Boats of the Public Garden are a treasure. The pavilion, a rickety wood structure amidst the splendor of the park, seems like an afterthought.
For those who?d like to weigh in on a better design for the pavilion and its sister duck house, a juried architectural competition is underway, seeking out ideas.
The objective of this juried competition is to explore possibilities, since there is no actual formal project or plan to replace the pavilion and duck house.
The family that runs the Swan Boats, the Pagets, support the competition and will contribute some money for cash prizes.
The competition is open to all architects, architecture school graduates, urban designers, landscape architects, artists, interior designers, and design-related undergraduate/graduate students in New England. There is no registration or submission fee.
The mastermind of this competition is Paul McIntire, senior designer at CBT Architects. He and his wife had always loved the Swan Boats, but when they began bringing their nieces and nephews and out-of-town friends there, they noticed ??that it doesn?t seem to fit the beauty and grandeur of the Public Garden,? he said. ?I said to my wife, it was a someday scenario. I said I?d like to donate money to do this. The impetus was to put the idea forward and get the money afterward.? That was in August, when they decided to launch a competition. He?s realistic ? he realizes that many people love the pavilion as is, or will complain about some of the designs that come forward. Even when they choose a winning design, that doesn?t mean the pavilion will be replaced quickly, or at all. ?Nothing gets going with the City of Boston very quickly, but it?s just a competition. No one is threatened by it,? he said.
When he came up with the idea, the first people he called were the Paget family for their blessing. He insisted he wasn?t being critical of the Paget family for not doing the redesign themselves. ?I?m sure it?s enough of an operation just taking them apart every year and storing them,? said McIntire.
The history of the swan boat
Paget was granted a boat for hire license by the City of Boston, and developed a catamaran which housed a paddle wheel propelled by foot, like a bicycle.
Robert suggested a swan, based on his familiarity with the opera ?Lohengrin,? in which a knight of the Grail crosses a river in a boat drawn by a swan to defend the innocence of his heroine, Princess Elsa.
Robert Paget lived only one year after the first Swan Boats were launched. He died in 1878 at the age of 42, and his wife, Julia, a young widow with four children, assumed full management of the new enterprise. Initially, the fleet was comprised of single-seaters that could carry eight. The current boats are replicas of the originals, but have five or six benches, each carrying up to 20 passengers.
At the time Paget built his Swan Boat, it wasn?t considered a cultural icon for Boston; it was just a ride. Originally, the pavilion consisted of a red and white fabric roof set on poles, and has since become a green, painted wooden structure with an asphalt-shingled roof.
Paul McIntire observed historic photographs and said it was obvious that the pavilion was always meant to be a temporary structure when Robert Paget initially crafted a Swan Boat in 1877.
To provide the same experience for Swan Boat fans through the upcoming years, a few suggested guidelines, include keeping the pavilion in its current location and keeping the swan boat water route.
The pavilion does the job, but can be a problem during peak hours, so the contest organizers have recommended minimum dimensions.
The owners of the Swan Boats have a concessions license issued by the City of Boston to operate in the Public Garden, which itself is operated by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. Under this current agreement with the city, the entire structure of the current pavilion is located in the water within the perimeter of the lagoon and not on Public Garden land. Again, for the competition, organizers suggest the pavilion structure be located entirely within the perimeter of the lagoon.
Other considerations will be the operation of the Swan Boats, pedestrian circulation, storage needs, stroller storage area, lines of people, boarding and unloading, ticket counter, and retail counter. It could also be designed to accommodate a seasonal ice skating pavilion.
Old photographs and other documents will be provided to help architects come up with something appropriate.
It?s not just the pavilion that could use a makeover ? the Duck House, which is so-named because ducks are known to live in the structure by entering from under the deck, is actually a housing for a 48-inch sewer main, used for the inlet and draining of the pond?s water. The limitations of the competition would keep it to the current location, allow for duck co-habitation, and continue to hide the vertical portion of the sewer main. Otherwise, there?s no height limitations for the Duck House.
?It?s going to generate some interest,? said Marian W. Hill of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. ?The structure hasn?t been updated since 1924 or something.?
She?s seeking out event sponsors to provide money for cash rewards, to join fellow sponsors, including the Four Seasons Hotel, where the judging and awards ceremony will be held on Nov. 25; Boston Society of Architects; Enlightened Nutrition, where Hill works; and the Paget family.
Friends of the Public Garden are on board as a sponsor, and the Boston Parks Commission will be talking to them soon.
Designs are due Nov. 17, and about 12 area designers have already begun to participate.
?I expect some pretty crazy things,? said McIntire, who expects architects or students seeking some exposure, not the cash prize, to submit wild ideas. ?It?s all about generating ideas and discussion,? he added.
Submissions will be showed at two architectural conventions and at the Boston Society of Architects. ?There is exposure,? said McIntire. ?They can let fly with whatever design they really want.?
But the winning design will probably be pretty conservative, possibly with wrought iron, predict Hill and McIntire. ?I see this competition as inspiring somebody out there to make the improvements, whether it be the city or a personal donation, to generate interest to improve a structure that is a part of our history - to make it something beautiful like it should be,? said Hill.
The winner of the competition will be announced Nov. 25 at the Four Seasons event. For more information, check out swanboatspavilioncompetition.com.
