Rose Kennedy Greenway

^^^
I almost posted this article this morning. Why is their a 2nd study now being consulted with? How many more studies do they need for the Harbor waterfront?
 
I hope the amend that bill so that any existing buildings over 200 ft must be demolished to meet height limit.
 
What a disgrace the Greenway Conservancy has become. I vote for the private sector to take over this Median Strip. My vote probably won't count because I don't have 5 grand


Parks, Politics Sun, Sep. 16, 2012 Greenway Conservancy Tells Neighborhoods “Pay to Play” – $5,000 Yearly Minimum For New Reps

At this week’s North End / Waterfront neighborhood meetings, community leaders were shocked to have recently received a $5,000 shakedown letter from the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy regarding the personal contribution and fundraising “expectations” of representatives. Six neighborhood groups will be nominating voting members to the Conservancy’s Board of Directors under new legislation, effective January 1, 2013. View the letter sent to neighborhood groups (pdf).

In the letter’s attachment, the Conservancy has set out its “Expectations of Members,” including the following:

•Make an annual individual financial contribution as appropriate to your circumstances. An annual minimum “give or get” of $5,000 is suggested.
•Strengthen the Conservancy’s financial base by providing leadership on and financial support toward fundraising efforts.
•Make the Greenway Conservancy a top philanthropic priority. Meet annually with the Board Chair or designee to determine individual fundraising goals and plans.
The full “Responsibilities and Expectations” document can be viewed here in pdf.


North End Greenway Park where half of the fountains have not worked in several years. (September 2012 photo by Matt Conti)
Neighborhood group leaders are concerned that qualified residents will be reluctant or unable to meet such requirements. Some have even suggested the Conservancy is using this mechanism as a loophole in the new legislation to cherry-pick members that will not “rock the boat.”

Financial contributions by board members are often solicited by non-profits. However, it was largely assumed that middle and low income neighborhood reps would fill the role of community advocates, not rainmakers or fundraising chiefs.

At a neighborhood meeting this week, State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli said the financial and fundraising expectations set forth by the Conservancy are not consistent with the spirit of the new legislation. They intend to work with the Conservancy so that a financial commitment would not be a requirement to a neighborhood seat on the GC’s Board of Directors.

The Conservancy Board must approve each of the neighborhood representatives giving it veto power over people it doesn’t like. Someone that may want to challenge the six figure executive salaries or question the Conservancy’s expenditures of public and private money, is unlikely to receive such approval.

A cover letter from Greenway Conservancy Chair Georgia Murray told the groups:

We are delighted to work with you to identify talented and dedicated leaders. Your list of candidates will assist the Greenway Conservancy’s Governance and Nominating Committee to fill 1 of the open seats on the Board. To provide you with a better understanding of the time commitment and responsibilities of a board member, we have attached a description. Moreover, if you would like, a current board member will be happy to speak informally at one of your upcoming meetings. For the benefit of all candidates, members of the Governance Committee will meet with the individuals prior to the final approval of the nominee by a vote of the full board at a public Board meeting.

The State Legislature recently passed, and the Governor signed, reform legislation to make the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy more accountable to citizens through the Public Records and Open Meeting Laws. The legislation also gives a voice to surrounding Greenway neighborhoods by expanding its Board of Directors to 21 members to allow for neighborhood representatives from six groups:

•North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council, NEWNC
•North End / Waterfront Residents’ Association, NEWRA
•Chinatown Neighborhood Council, CNC
•Chinatown Residents’ Association, CRA
•Leather District Neighborhood Association, LDNA
•Wharf District Council, WDC
The reform bill addresses issues that have been questioned since the creation of the private, non-profit organization (See Greenway Conservancy Exposed – We Knew That, But Thanks Herald.) The current Greenway Conservancy Board fought against the legislative changes referring to its status as a private, non-profit corporation. In the end, the Greenway is public land and that reasoning won over the legislature and the Governor to support the reforms. The new legislation does not address the financial standing of the Conservancy, which remains in the hands of the State’s transportation department. To date, MassDOT remains intent on eliminating public funding for the Conservancy over five years.
Click to expand...


http://northendwaterfront.com/2012/...502f98d57-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email
 
This is standard for non-profits. Even my neighborhood association request that all officers take part in things like the clean up and selling a certain number of fund raising raffle tickets. Sorry riff again you are clueless.
 
Yesterday I hought I'd put the old eyeball on the newest addition to the Greenway.


Dewey Sq. 9:29

By the way I like it and hope they make it permanent, or until they build something around the vent building.
 
Brennan to leave Greenway conservancy

By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

The head of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy is stepping down after nearly eight years in charge of the downtown Boston park system, officials annnounced Monday.

Nancy Brennan will leave the conservancy in mid-January to take a job as chief of philanthropy at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Officials with the conservancy said they will soon begin a search for her replacement.

Brennan has led the conservancy since its inception in 2005, helping to create a 1.3-mile string of parks along the route of the old Central Artery that is now populated with public art, food trucks, seasonal festivals and community events. She has also endured controversy about her $185,000-a-year salary as well as questions about how to fund and manage the park system.

Brennan said it was her decision to leave. “This is a good time for me to go,” she said.

“My specialty is in the start-up nonprofit world. I’ve been here almost eight years and I can look out the window and see how far the greenway has come in beauty, animation and fun things to do,” Brennan said. “It will be in very good hands.”

The conservancy is in the midst of a major transition from relying mostly on funds from the state government for the parks’s operations and maintenance. The organization is now trying to form a so-called business improvement district to raise private funds from property owners around the park network. Its annual budget is currently $4.4 million.

Georgia Murray, chairwoman of the conservancy’s board of directors, praised Brennan’s work: “Nancy Brennan has been an extraordinary executive director of the greenway in its formative years,” she said. “Under her leadership, the park has taken shape. Among its signature programs, the Greenway is one of the country’s only organically-maintained public parks and is host to the Green & Grow career development program for seventeen to twenty-year-olds who come from low-income and immigrant families in Boston.”

Officials said that Jesse Brackenbury, the conservancy’s chief operating officer, will continue to run the day-to-day operations until the board hires a new executive director.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
Click to expand...

We need to get rid of the entire Rose Kennedy Greenway conservancy until they can fund themselves.

http://www.boston.com/businessupdat...conservancy/0X2ELAyjeQYlixoKM3V0JI/story.html
 
Only if the casino development could move forward with such success as the Greenway development has.


Thank god for that Merry-go-around.
 
I shed no tears for their plans on Parcel 9, but it's a shame the state couldn't pay to deck the ramps on Parcel 12, where the museum was originally going to build. If a museum plan with good momentum couldn't raise enough money to build the necessary infrastructure, how is anything, not to mention something cultural and non-profit, going to build the ramp parcel? Major failure of vision here.
 
The museum had raised $7 million in a decade's time, with a promise of $20 million more from a foundation. That's about 22 percent of the cost of a $120 million museum on parcel 9. This museum was a long way from ever happening.
 
Not sure if anybody read this article out of Banker Tradesman. Pretty disturbing.



Here Comes The Sun
Bill Aims To Limit Shadows Cast On Six Boston, Cambridge Parks
Opponents Say Measure Would Crimp Construction


By James Cronin

Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer
State Rep. Marty Walz is trying to make one final statement to local developers before she leaves, and that’s to keep new shadows out of Boston’s downtown public parks.
Click to expand...

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news153785.html?Type=search

Have to be a paid subscriber for the article.

A city without shadows is really not a city. Tall Buildings are part of the key components to making an amazing city with unique architecture.

Just because something is tall does not mean its negative?
 
Can anyone summarize the details of this for non-subscribers? Which parks?
 
2013 Developments in Progress for the city

Kenningston---Different (like the windows)
Fan Pier---The 2nd stump looks much better than the first stump
Liberty Mutual ---Typical Insurance building (does fit with the city-scape)


Seriously is this city going to build anything of importance? Not sure how long this funny money economy can last. But Boston is missing a serious window of opportunity at this moment in time to make something big happen.
 
The new Greenway Carousel and related improvements are on the way. Construction imminent.

On Labor Day weekend 2013, a new, one-of-a-kind carousel will open on the Greenway across from Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Christopher Columbus Park, thanks to a number of generous donations and grants.

For the Greenway Carousel RFP, click here.

Carousel Park will be located between the Armenian Heritage Park to the north and the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion to the south, a short distance from where the rental carousel has stood. One of the goals of this park is to create a nexus of activity in this part of the Greenway.

The gardens surrounding the Carousel will create a beautiful, welcoming new park environment with wonderful four season plantings, comfortable seating, and filtered shade. The carousel itself is a one of a kind creation with fourteen unique characters including a sea turtle, a cod, a peregrine falcon, a grasshopper, a harbor seal, a fox, a skunk, a whale, three types of butterflies, a barn owl, and a sea serpent. A total of 34 seats will be on the carousel, including a wheelchair accessible spot.

Carousel Park will welcome people of all ages and abilities, with full ADA (Americans with Disability Act) accessibility.

This project could not happen without generous support from several dozen donors, including a lead anonymous donor, individuals, foundations , including a $1.5 M gift from Tiffany & Co. Foundation for Carousel Park improvements, businesses and one competitive grant from the Masschusetts Cultural Council. Private donations amount to 95% of the total project costs.

For the design process, the Conservancy engaged a multi-disciplinary design team including: Reed Hilderbrand for Landscape Architecture and site design, Patrick Cullina for the Urban Horticulture design, Carousels and Carvings for the carousel fabrication and Jeff Briggs of Briggs Design as the carousel artist and sculptor.

For construction, Commodore Builders is the General Contractor and ValleyCrest: Landscape Construction will be the landscape construction subcontractor.

The Conservancy has conducted an extensive public input process through agency reviews as well as public meetings. The drawings for the animals that children and adults alike will ride started as drawings of local and regional animals created by school children at nearby public schools and have been shaped into unique one of a kind creations by Jeff Briggs.

The Greenway has hosted a rental carousel for the past four seasons, and while we cannot have a rental carousel in 2013 due to construction in the park, we will be extending the carousel season to the end of December on weekends and select weekdays.

Construction is set to begin the week beginning March 18th and the carousel is slated to open Labor Day Weekend. The price per ride will remain $3, but we will be offering discount books of tickets and possibly offering a season pass. We post details when they are available. There will be opportunities to host birthday parties and other special events in the carousel park area.

We will continue to update our website with construction updates as Carousel Park is built out.
Click to expand...

CURRENT%20Carousel%20view_looking%20northeast_red-thumb-520x263-97426.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top