Deadlines pass, but Greenway's completion date still in limbo
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | August 8, 2007
With several deadlines for the opening of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway passed, the private group and the government agency overseeing and building the project said yesterday they still do not know when it will be completed.
Officials of the Greenway Conservancy, who are assuming responsibility for maintenance and oversight of the parks, said yesterday the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which is constructing them, has been making progress. But neither the conservancy nor the authority would commit to a new opening date.
"There is not an absolute date set yet," said Linda Jonash, the conservancy's director of design and construction.
Turnpike spokesman Mac Daniel said the authority was "unable to provide a schedule," but that there were upcoming "windows of opportunity" for opening each separate block of the parkland in coming months.
"It's foolhardy to think that anything is going to happen on time on the surface -- it didn't happen in the tunnel," scoffed Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
He added "the core of the problem" is that neither the conservancy nor the Turnpike Authority has a clear mandate to lead the project.
"The turnpike is supposed to finish it," Menino said. "Who is going to keep them on schedule? Nobody."
A year ago, turnpike officials said the parks, which run between Causeway and Kneeland streets, would be open by this month.
Yesterday, Jonash told the monthly meeting of the conservancy board that security, lighting, and irrigation issues still have to be worked out. "There are so many pieces," she said.
Conservancy officials said they still expect all the parks to open by the end of this year. But when pressed about the lack of a firm opening schedule, Peter Meade, chairman of the conservancy's board, told a reporter, "You're asking some of the same questions we are."
The conservancy held its first major event July 22, a "Family Festa Picnic" on the anniversary of the birth of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, after whom the Greenway is named. The event was held mostly on Christopher Columbus Park, adjacent to the Greenway.
Meade called the event a "great success" and said about 6,000 people attended, some from far outside of Boston.
Work continued yesterday, with laborers laying sod and planting shrubs and trees along the seven blocks of Greenway parks.
Temporary landscaping is being installed on six blocks where cultural institutions plan to build facilities in several years.
But conservancy officials said that irrigation systems are not working on most of the Greenway.
On the block between India and High streets, "The irrigation system has not been hooked up, but is in the process as we speak," Jonash said.
On the block in front of the Boston Harbor Hotel, grass seed has been planted. But the turnpike spokesman, Daniel, said yesterday that it will be so long before the New Center for Arts and Culture builds on that block that the authority plans to spend $60,000 to rip up the ground, install an irrigation system, and lay sod to cover the ground until construction on the arts center starts.
The North End parks had been scheduled to open in late 2006, with Chinatown's large park opening about six months later.
The four large Wharf District blocks were set to open this summer -- with the whole corridor to be available to the public by this month.
The Chinatown park and one of the two North End parks, Daniel said, would be first, with the "window" for a possible opening beginning at the end of this month.
Asked how long that window would last, he said, "I'm not sure. There's still some work to do."
The "windows of opportunity" for the opening of other parks start in mid-September and run through the end of October, Daniel said.
A formal inaugural event for the Greenway is planned for fall of 2008.
Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at
tpalmer@globe.com.
