Rose Kennedy Greenway

Ron Newman said:
The YMCA could not afford to build if it also had to build the tunnel cap. With that issue resolved, I'm hoping their project will soon return.
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Hmm, you may be right.

Public cover

April 10, 2006

DUSTY CONSTRUCTION sites will gradually morph into colorful parks this summer as the Rose Kennedy Greenway begins to fulfill its extraordinary promise. Most of the parks should be finished, or close to it, by the summer of 2007.
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But several major questions remain, none greater than the fate of three ramp parcels that already chop up the mile-long Greenway like giant concrete bunkers. The state and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority can fix this problem, and should get about it promptly.

Fortunately, imaginative plans exist for all three sites. The YMCA wants to build a sizable facility, including a community center long desired by North End residents, on Parcel 6 (see map) between Endicott Street and the Government Center garage.

A Boston museum, in a bold, hull-shaped building, is slated for Parcel 12, between Fulton Street and the Faneuil Hall Marketplace garage. And an Arts and Culture Center, in another building from a world-class architect, would occupy Parcel 18, between Rowes Wharf and International Place.

All three would be built to facilitate, rather than discourage, pedestrian flow along the Greenway. At the same time, each would be an attraction pulling people from all over Greater Boston and beyond, helping to create the planned common ground that would enrich the city.
RELATED STORY: City may sell building on greenway for up to $25m
Pop-up GLOBE GRAPHIC: Map of the Rose Kennedy Greenway

Unfortunately, the ramp parcels pose engineering challenges that never should have been passed on to the nonprofit groups developing these projects. The costs of covering over the on- and off-ramps, and of sinking foundations that would support the buildings, have proven to be far higher than original estimates. The YMCA, in fact, indicated it would give up its designation for Parcel 6 because it simply would be too expensive.

From the start, these sites should have been prepared for development by the Turnpike. Understandably, chairman Matt Amorello is trying to finish the project without further cost overruns, but the Greenway and other surface elements are going to be the visual and civic legacy of the Big Dig, as he acknowledges. ''The Turnpike will be judged on what the parks look like," he said in a recent interview.

Legislative leaders are sympathetic and are likely to put forward a proposal to pay for covering the ramp parcels, possibly this week. Some creative bookkeeping may be involved. Amorello says the state owes the Turnpike some $48 million for operation and maintenance of the Central Artery during construction. He indicated he would be willing to forgo the debt, or part of it, if the state pays for the ramp work. In addition, the state may help guarantee financing to bring the YMCA back to Parcel 6.

In the end, whether from the state or the Turnpike, the cost of preparing these crucial sites for development should be paid by the public. The YMCA, the Museum Project, and the Arts and Culture Center are all busily raising private funds for their projects, as is the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which was warned last week by the Mayor's Artery Completion Task Force to show some results soon. The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, which is charged with eventual oversight of the parks, is also actively seeking private money, but more of its funds should be public.

The Greenway promises to be a great public amenity -- a central gathering place for all of Boston for decades to come -- and it should be paid for largely with public funds. Covering the ramps is a good place to start.
? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Ron Newman said:
The YMCA could not afford to build if it also had to build the tunnel cap. With that issue resolved, I'm hoping their project will soon return.
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YMCA here? That's interesting...on a the ramps, not the parks?
 
^ On the Greenway? They're not building a gym on the greenway. They're going to build a gym over a tangle of highway ramps. I think it's a good idea.
 
chumbolly said:
^ On the Greenway? They're not building a gym on the greenway. They're going to build a gym over a tangle of highway ramps. I think it's a good idea.
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Oh, oops, my bad.
 
The Y is also going to include a community center for the people of The North End.
 
ZenZen said:
Why the hell are they building a gym on the Greenway?
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Why not?... Why did the Romans build public baths?
 
DudeUrSistersHot said:
bowesst said:
I think something better than a Y could go there.
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Even with the Y there, an 800 foot skyscraper could still go above it
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I don't think the tunnels and ramps can support something that big.
 
Scott said:
ZenZen said:
Why the hell are they building a gym on the Greenway?
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Why not?... Why did the Romans build public baths?
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It's not like everyone from the public can go into the Y and use its facilities. It is not like a public park or monument or some other public amenity. It's the YMCA - Young Men's Christian Association. (We're not all young men or Christian. :shock: :lol: )

List of other buildings I would like to see on the Greenway:
-YWCA
-Temple Beth Zion
-Public Bubble Bath
-oh, and a Target.
 
The Lowell Y is co-ed, charges 2 bucks with my health insurance card to use the facility and I have never been asked my religion.
Such a deal...
 
Anybody can join The YMCA. I don't think it's considered a highly religious institution. The point is that now when The Y builds a facility it's usually state of the art. It would be nice to have an Olympic sized pool and other sports facilities.
 
Exactly. You don't have to be Young, you don't have to be a Man, and you certainly don't have to be Christian. For some of their activities, you probably won't even have to be Associated.
 
Yeah, honestly. You don't find many truly exclusionary institutions anymore - especially based on religion. I mean, I went with a friend to the JCC in Newton all the time (Jewish Community Center). He's Jewish - I'm not. They have great facilities though. A nice swimming pool.
 
Speaking of which ... the folks who are putting together the New Center for Arts and Culture, further down the Greenway, take NYC's "92nd Street Y" as a model. That Y stands for YMHA -- Young Men's Hebrew Association.
 
So, the center for arts and culture is still a go? I wish there was a better system or website for getting updated as to what is still going to get built and what has been canceled.
 
Every one of the non-profits needs to raise money in order to build. That one has some deep pockets in the Jewish community behind it, so I'm more confident in it than in some of the others.
 
Well, that's the project that, in my opinion, is really most beneficial to the city. If they do that right it could push Boston's arts and theater reputation up quite a bit internationally.
 
Tunnel Collapse Halts Greenway Construction Projects


BOSTON-All construction projects on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway have been halted at the request of Mayor Thomas M. Menino following the collapse of a tunnel roof earlier this week that killed a 38-year-old Jamaica Plain woman.

City officials say it is unclear how many construction projects were stopped as a result of the mayor?s request. A spokeswoman for the mayor?s office tells GlobeSt.com that the he asked for the construction shutdown Tuesday, shortly after a portion of the tunnel?s roof collapsed, crushing a car and killing Milena Del Valle.

Officials with the Big Dig say they have found at least 60 tunnel defects and closed down a section of the roadway, which links Interstate 90 to the Ted Williams Tunnel, until investigators finished collecting evidence in the cause of the disaster.

It was unclear when the highway would reopen, Big Dig head Matthew Amorello says. An investigation into Boston?s entire highway infrastructure inside Route 128 is being conducted, he adds.



Link
 
Has any MassHighway infrastructure ever had any failure even remotely close to the failure of the big dig? The Turnpike Authority should be dissolved, everyone should be fired and all state roads and highways should be put under the authority of MassHighway. This includes bridges and roads owned by the DCR and other state agencies. It would result in a much more efficient bureaucracy and better maintained public property.
 
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