Rose Kennedy Greenway

The rendering is really bad. I think the building will look better than it is depicted in watercolors. Why on earth did they create a rendering that makes the building look bad? Most times we see super slick photos with the proposed building digitally imposed into it. The results tend to show everything in ideal states (ie great lighting, angle, etc.) that make the building look unrealistically perfect. When it actually gets built we say "doesn't look as good as the rendering". But in this case (the Boston Museum Project) they've created a crude image in (faux?) watercolors that neither makes the proposal look good nor gives people an accurate depiction of the final product.

In other words, we need a better rendering.
 
..

what we need is a better, properly designed building, not just some abstract piece of sculpture doubling as a building. Boston has a long and great history. A building with some permanence would be nice... as mentioned before, granite would be nice... heck, i'd even go so far as to say Boston City Hall (sans city hall plaza) is a better looking building than this....

... of course, both need to enliven its surroundings better with ground level activities...
 
Greenway projects lose more ground
Big Dig woes, inertia, finance are blamed
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | August 5, 2006

Fallout from the collapse of a Big Dig tunnel is expected to delay the opening of the first parks on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway by six months until next spring.

But even before the accident, another essential part of the Greenway -- the cultural buildings that will provide recreational facilities and hide highway ramps -- was years away from completion and risks being delayed further because of the tunnel problems.

Some delays facing the Greenway are the result of complications caused by the tunnel collapse. But, for the most part, the hurdles stem from problems that predate the accident and had been growing over time: repeated delays in the Big Dig construction schedule, bureaucratic inertia, drawn-out negotiations with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and financial and other problems at the institutions themselves.

One Greenway anchor, an arts and culture center, is not scheduled to open until 2011, as it struggles to get government approvals. Other buildings, including a museum, a YMCA and community center, and a harbor parks pavilion, are stalled or face serious money shortfalls and may not be built at all. A glass-boxed ``winter garden" is all but dead.

Mark Maloney, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said the problems that developed over the years have led to the Greenway being ``horribly delayed."

The Greenway was envisioned as the crowning accomplishment of the Big Dig, a dozen blocks of public spaces and cultural amenities that would elegantly rejoin downtown Boston with its waterfront. Bostonians and commuters who suffered through 15 years of disruption and construction were to be rewarded with an urban jewel after the highway was done.

Like the Big Dig itself, projections for completion of the Greenway have been pushed out into the future several times. As recently as 2001, project officials predicted a 2005 ribbon cutting for the entire Greenway.

Now the first two blocks of parks fronting the North End won't open on schedule, because the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees both the highway and park construction, slowed work to allow traffic diverted by the tunnel closings to move through downtown Boston. ``There were some inefficiencies by not being able to allow construction to proceed as it has been," said turnpike spokeswoman Mariellen Burns.

Moreover, a major facility planned for the Greenway, the New Center for Arts and Culture, was close to getting a development deal with the turnpike in early July, nearly two years after the Turnpike Authority first chose it for a location near Rowes Wharf. But that agreement has since been stalled as the authority grapples with the tunnel issues.

The I-90 connector tunnel and portions of the Ted Williams Tunnel were closed after July 10, when falling concrete ceiling panels killed 38-year-old Milena Del Valle of Jamaica Plain.

The remaining six blocks of parks are expected to open on schedule by the end of the next summer, turnpike officials said this week.

The Turnpike Authority is undergoing a jarring transition in both leadership and focus: chairman Matthew J. Amorello was ousted by Governor Mitt Romney after the accident, and the agency is now focused on fixing faulty concrete ceiling panels and determining the cause of the failure, threatening to push projects such as the Greenway to the sidelines.

``I don't think anybody knows what the continuing fallout from all of this will be," said Peter Meade, chairman of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy board.

Druker now estimates that getting a development agreement from the Turnpike Authority for the New Center, negotiating a lease, and then undergoing permitting by the city of Boston could take more than two years. That will be followed by fund-raising, fine-tuning, and construction, putting the center on schedule to open in 2011 at the earliest.

``That's the craziness of what it takes to do something in our city and just generally," Druker said.

Turnpike officials said they have moved as rapidly as possible on the project and said internal problems at the New Center contributed to the delay. Despite the most recent setback because of the tunnel collapse, turnpike officials said they expect a development agreement with the New Center will be signed in the near future.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, after hearing of Druker's latest time estimate, predicted the city's permitting process could be completed within six months.

Other buildings facing delays or other problems include:

The Boston Museum Center, which also lacks key deals with the turnpike 20 months after winning the turnpike's designation for a block near Faneuil Hall. The delays prompted the project's president, Anne D. Emerson, to postpone major fund-raising. The organization has raised $2.25 million of the estimated $90 million it will need. In 2004 Emerson hoped for a 2012 opening. Now, she said she cannot put a date on a possible completion.

The $4.5 million Harbor Parks Pavilion, a tourist center for national parkland in Boston Harbor. Its proponents are redesigning the glass structure after a construction estimate recently came in at twice the budgeted amount. Thomas B. Powers, president of the Island Alliance, which is managing the project, said the organization is hopeful it can open the pavilion near State Street in 2009.

The YMCA of Greater Boston last year dropped its plans to build a $42 million Y and North End community center after cost projections skyrocketed to $69 million, largely because of the expense of building over new highway ramps. The YMCA, as well as the museum and the New Center, are due to share in $31 million the Legislature recently authorized for coverage of the new downtown ramps. The Y's share of that would be $16 million, but the organization has not yet decided whether to restart the project, said president John M. Ferrell.

Uncertainty continues to surround the three blocks near South Station, a fourth of the entire Greenwa, where the Massachusetts Horticultural Society had promised to build a $100 million winter garden. Despite repeatedly failing to come up with its own money or a viable plan, Mass. Hort recently got $2 million from the Turnpike Authority to build parks there instead.

The winter garden failure and all the other delays have those who have long been involved in the Big Dig questioning how much longer Boston must wait to get its promised urban jewel.

``The expectation was that the parks and building development along the Central Artery corridor would come soon after the completion of the highway portion," said Anne Fanton, former executive director of the Central Artery Environmental Oversight Committee. ``In reality it's going to be possibly another decade."
 
Very, very discouraging but frankly, not surprising. Even more amazing is why the Turnpike Authority continues to give millions to Mass Hort, instead of yanking those parcels from them. Mass Hort has proved that it is incapable of managing it's own affairs let along manage the huge parcels of land on the Greenway that they were awarded years ago! I'll bet Massport put all it's eggs in MassHort's basket and now they don't have a plan or a budget for those parcels. What a mess!
 
The solution here would be to offer developers gratuitous tax incentives or to privatize the entire site. Get some individuals involved that have something to gain and it will be transformed overnight.
 
bosdevelopment said:
The solution here would be to offer developers gratuitous tax incentives or to privatize the entire site. Get some individuals involved that have something to gain and it will be transformed overnight.
Click to expand...

Or at least get the Turnpike Authority out of the picture. Wait, Matt's gone, right?
 
Parcel's fate is `up in the air'

Squatters, squalor, and stench soil a site in tourist section
By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | August 9, 2006






At the Millennium Bostonian Hotel, people paying more than $300 a night look out upon it. Tour buses drop hundreds of visitors there each day, giving them one of their first vivid impressions of the city. But it's not a sight that city promoters would be likely to approve.

A 1- acre patch of downtown real estate in the heart of one of the city's busiest tourist areas, it is strewn with piles of construction debris, wooden produce pallets, and other detritus left by vendors from the nearby Haymarket. It also serves as home to a band of squatters who have set up camp, where they have been seen passing bottles while sitting on makeshift chairs around a wooden cable spool turned on its side for use as a table.

The piece of ground, known as Parcel 9, was once occupied by the elevated Central Artery and is slated for development as a piece of the promised parkland jewel, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Nearby residents and merchants say they have waited patiently for construction to begin and for the problems to be moved out, but time has gone by without any changes.

``It's horrendous," said Tom Houle, a driver for King Ward Coach Lines of Chicopee, who dropped off a load of tourists yesterday. ``You should see it on market days. It smells, too."

Turns out, Parcel 9 is a no-man's land . Boston police say it is under State Police jurisdiction, while officials at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which officially controls the parcel, say they have been counting on Boston police to help patrol the area.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino put the blame back on the state yesterday. ``This dump will not be tolerated," he said. ``I want it removed as quickly as possible."

Turnpike Authority officials say Big Dig contractors are using the parcel as a construction staging area, but that they often aren't at the site and haven't properly maintained it. ``It's kind of an ongoing issue," Turnpike Authority spokeswoman Mariellen Burns said.

She said that workers have asked the squatters to go somewhere else and have on occasion removed parts of the makeshift camp, but that people keep returning.

Late last month, after holding a press conference to announce his resignation just yards from the site, Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello apparently asked that something be done.

``I remember he was looking in there and was displeased," Burns said.

After Globe inquiries yesterday, Burns said Turnpike Authority officials ordered the contractors to clean it up and secure it better, possibly by putting up a fence.

At the site yesterday, there were empty vodka bottles, beer cartons, blankets, backpacks stuffed with clothes, and an old car seat set up like a couch. An umbrella propped up by bricks from a nearby pile provided shade at the makeshift picnic table.

Residents and merchants said that a handful of people have been staying there on a regular basis for months and that as many as eight gather at the site each day. They sometimes get into fights, at least once throwing bricks at one another and yelling.

``I figured it was going to end eventually," said Jack Plewa, whose apartment overlooks the parcel.

Shortly after noon yesterday, a brisk wind carried the acrid smell of rotting vegetables and trash across Blackstone Street and into Haymarket Pizza, where dozens of customers were lined up for lunch. Owner Al Sciola said he hasn't complained to authorities about the mess, mainly because he, too, figured it would be cleaned when construction on the Greenway got underway, but also because he wasn't sure whom to complain to.

``It's up in the air here," he said. ``Nobody knows who owns what."

Development plans for the parcel are uncertain. At first, the site was slated for a hotel, but that plan was scrapped in favor of housing, and now city planners say any development is likely to be several years off.

One visitor yesterday, Dan Monahan of Whitman, observed wryly that officials have called the proposed greenway a jewel of the city.

``This," he said, leaning on a concrete barrier next to the parcel, ``this is the diamond in the rough."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.

? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company
 
jeez, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse for the Greenway, I read this! I don't understand why this parcel hasn't been put out for development yet? Why in the world does it take so long to get things moving?
 
This is the bum living room parcel i was talking about. If anything this has become somewhat of a townie tourist destination. People take pictures with the bums and a good time is had by all. I think the "bum parcel" should stay left undeveloped as a tribute to the great foresight and management capability of our city, state and turnpike authority.
 
Isn't the Big Dig a construction site on a public road? Where is the detail officer who is making overtime to watch over the site? Could this not be construed as a safety hazard?
 
$133m shortfall cited on Big Dig
Cahill describes financial woes
By Raja Mishra and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | August 9, 2006

A freeze in federal highway funds has created a $133 million shortfall in the Big Dig's budget, and spending on the project threatens to siphon funds from other public works projects around the state, according to state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill.

In a three-page letter delivered yesterday to Governor Mitt Romney, Cahill said that in addition to the $133 million shortfall, he discovered that the Turnpike Authority collected $67 million less than expected from a recent real estate deal and that the state diverted another $40 million in Turnpike funds to pay for a commuter-rail extension to Hingham.

Cahill suggested the overall cost of the Big Dig may exceed the widely-used $14.6 billion price tag. He called the Big Dig's financial situation troubling and demanded that Romney explain how the state will address the project's finances.

``I am concerned that the Big Dig, in its final stages, will become an increasing financial burden on the Commonwealth and detract from other critical statewide road and bridge maintenance initiatives," Cahill wrote. ``There is legitimate concern . . . that the Turnpike Authority has not budgeted enough money to fully pay for the finished Central Artery Project."

The cost of repairs stemming from the fatal July 10 ceiling collapse in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel remains unclear. Extensive repairs in the tunnel, where car passenger Milena Del Valle was killed by falling concrete, have yet to commence. Meanwhile, Romney is preparing an exhaustive ``stem to stern" audit of the entire Big Dig, which could uncover other costly problems.

From Today's Globe: $133m shortfall cited on Big Dig Connector ramp to Logan reopens GLOBE GRAPHIC: Ramp opening
Memo writer gets 2d lawyer
big dig: Problems Coverage Traffic Updates

Romney and law enforcement and transportation officials say that repair costs may be covered by lawsuits against Big Dig contractors and by insurance policies. But money from lawsuits and insurance claims could take years to secure, and Cahill said he is concerned that the Central Artery Project's cash flow problems could tempt state officials to siphon money from other projects to cover immediate costs.

Telling Romney that on the Big Dig ``all roads now lead to you," Cahill asked the governor for a full accounting of how the state will cover the project's costs. The Legislature gave Romney oversight of the project shortly after the ceiling collapse , and the governor forced out Turnpike chairman Matthew J. Amorello last month.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said yesterday: ``Just as we're finding problems with the construction of the project, we may very well find gaps and holes in the financing. If that is the case, the people of Massachusetts can trust Governor Romney to make full disclosure and to work constructively on solutions."

The Romney administration has not been able to scour the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's books and doesn't expect to see them until after Aug. 15, when Amorello is scheduled to leave office, a Romney aide, who refused to be identified, said yesterday.

Cahill, a Democrat, refused to comment for this report.

The concerns arise at a sensitive time for the state: Cahill is planning to sell $500 million in bonds later this month to raise money for various state projects. By federal law, he must fully disclose the liabilities faced by the state, including the Big Dig's woes, so investors get a full picture of Massachusetts' finances.

Cahill's letter was also sent to Attorney General Thomas P. Reilly, Speaker of the House Salvatore F. DiMasi, Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, State Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci, Romney budget aide Thomas Trimarco, inspector general Gregory W. Sullivan, and comptroller Martin J. Benison.

In the letter to Romney, Cahill explained that he examined Big Dig finances as part of his preparation for the upcoming bond sale.

Cahill said that the Big Dig has a $133 million ``cash flow disruption" stemming from problems with the Federal Highway Administration. The federal agency last year froze $81 million in funds, saying the Turnpike Authority needed to explain how it would fix the numerous leaks in Big Dig tunnels and how much the repairs would cost. The Turnpike Authority, in the meantime, had spent $52 million on the assumption it would get the federal money. Now, having spent the $52 million and still not getting the $81 million it was expecting from the federal government, the agency is $133 million in the hole.

Cahill also found that a Transportation Infrastructure Fund created by the state to cover some Big Dig costs currently has a negative balance after $40 million was diverted from the fund to pay for the Greenbush MBTA commuter rail extension to Hingham.

Cahill's letter does not say exactly what projects the $40 million was originally meant to finance. Nor does he say who diverted the money, and his staff said yesterday they had not been able to identify the responsible parties.

To raise cash for the infrastructure fund, the Turnpike Authority recently counted on selling its Kneeland Street office building for $100 million but was only able to fetch $33 million on the market, the Cahill letter says. With less money in the fund to invest, the Turnpike Authority has not been able to realize interest returns it had anticipated, causing even more of a shortfall, the letter said, not specifiying an amount.

Cahill also wrote that the Big Dig contingency fund, meant to cover emergencies like the July 10 ceiling collapse, has been ``nearly depleted and certainly not at the level that the Legislature is relying on." After Del Valle's death, many lawmakers on Beacon Hill estimated that the fund held about $160 million. It has $20 million, Cahill's aides said.

Frank Phillips of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.

? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2006/08/09/133m_shortfall_cited_on_big_dig/

This won't help the situation at all. How will the government fix this problem? They either shortchange other projects to finish the Greenway, or they somehow pull together other funds, which I don't see where they would come from, because the public is not going to want to put that kind of money into this mess.
 
Actually, that should motivate the Turnpike Authority to quickly find a developer so they can sell off that parcel. They need the money.
 
It's called selling air rights and letting people build without the 10 year long committee waltz, as well as kicking Mass Hort out, along with any other pie in the sky projects without funding, and replacing them with paying projects. I bet a lot of state officials, union officials, and contractors are crapping themselves now that the Feds and the governor have access to all the books and are demanding answers as to where the hell the money is.
 
"Union Officials"?... nope, blaming the workforce is like blaming the printer when you don't like an article in the paper.

Mitt Romney is the guy who didn't do his job for 4 years and the local Republicans won't say so because they desperately want him to be President and Muffy to be Governor. They have essentially ended any chance of an outside investigation because, I suspect, the outcome wouldn't be very flattering to Romney's image.
 
Parcel 9 is not an air-rights parcel, and should be easy to sell for development.
 
Right, which begs the questions, "Why hasn't it already been put out to bid"; "why the delay?" How many more parcels are out there are just sitting around waiting for to be developed while the Turnpike Authority sits on its butt?
 
Scott said:
"Union Officials"?... nope, blaming the workforce is like blaming the printer when you don't like an article in the paper.

Mitt Romney is the guy who didn't do his job for 4 years and the local Republicans won't say so because they desperately want him to be President and Muffy to be Governor. They have essentially ended any chance of an outside investigation because, I suspect, the outcome wouldn't be very flattering to Romney's image.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's all Romney, and not the fault of any of the people who didn't clean out the holes for the epoxy, didn't clean the bolts, didn't mix it right, and used the wrong drill bits. It couldn't be their fault, of course. And the leaks most certainly aren't the fault of the workers who poured the concrete in the slurry walls without bothering to drain the water out of them first.

It was most certainly Romney's direct decision to improperly design and mount the bolts in the late 1990's, and to not drain the trenches in the mid 1990's. The poor union workers were just doing what they were told to do - obviously, Bechtel and Romney told them to improperly mount the bolts on purpose.
 
Dude, shut up you ignorant child. Don't you hear your mommy calling?
 
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