Friends of

THE PUBLIC GARDEN

90 Mt Vernon Street Boston 02108

i hf^

Fall, 1973

NEWSLETTER

The past six months have seen considerable activity affecting the Garden,
most of it encouraging. The patient is still in danger and still beset with
threats to its survival, but its deterioration has halted for the moment, and
here and there its condition has begun to improve.

Park Plaza

A major threat to the Garden remains the so-called Park Plaza Urban Renewal
Plan. In June, the BRA submitted this plan for the third time to the State
Department of Community Affairs. In matters affecting the Garden it differed very
little from previous submissions. Accordingly, we testified against the plan at
State hearings in June and August. As expected. Commissioner Crampton finally
appoved the project but with certain conditions, one of which was continued state
review of environmental impact studies. These conditions proved unacceptable to
the Developer, and on September 27, Mr. Kenney wrote Commissioner Crampton that
"further communication about Park Plaza is useless."

Since then they have been in constant communication, and the BRA has now
prepared a fourth submission. From all evidence it is virtually the same as its
predecessors and will pose the same dangers to the Common and Garden. Unfortunately,
this time the Governor has requested full capitulation. For members who have not
read it, there is enclosed a copy of the Letter to the Editor that appeared last
month in the Globe and the Ledger setting forth very briefly the views of the
Friends and other civic groups. It bears repeating that virtually no organization
opposes thoughtful reconstruction in the area but only an ill-formed plan whose
defects still exceed its merits.

What Can We Do?

In the middle of Park Square stands a small grass plot with a statue of
Abraham Lincoln. Removal of this park, for such it is officially, appears to
require a two-thirds vote of both the State House and Senate. A practical way of
expressing opposition to the present Park Plaza plan would be to write your State
representative and senator, urging them to vote against this bill (Senate 1214).

-2- r.

<

<

Highrise

Regardless of Park Plaza, it is now clear that we need regulation of
highrise buildings abutting the Garden and indeed all public parks. It will
always be argued that each new structure alone will not cause undue damage, but
one will lead to another and yet another until the scale and character of the area
are lost, and the parks themselves are darkened and destroyed as public amenities.
If approved. Park Plaza will open the door to developers who regard our parks as
free front yards for their real estate ventures.

There are legislative acts on the books passed in 1896 limiting the height
of buildings around public parks, but in Boston they have been allowed to lapse.
Their revival may now be vital to the preservation of our dwindling open spaces.

Improvements

Turning to happier matters, work has commenced on the improvements described
in earlier Newsletters including replacement of the fencing along Charles Street,
planting of new shrubs along Beacon Street (selected by the Horticultural Planning
Committee), and installation of ball and chain fences around several grass plots.
During the summer about 40 of the Garden's trees were aerated and fed, and experimental
treatment was undertaken on several elms with signs of disease. Although opposed by
the Friends, the work also included placement of granite curbing designed to keep
city trucks off the grass.

Plans

Application has been made to the U. S. Bureau of Outdoor Recreation for a
matching grant of $150,000 to finance completion of the peripheral fence. In
addition, the Parks and Recreation Department has agreed to the preparation of a
master plan for long-term restoration in both Common and Garden. I

These are heartening signs, but much of course remains to be done. Improve-
ments will require further federal and city financing and, wherever feasible,
substantial private help. The Office of the Boston Bicentennial has prepared a list
of items needed in the Common and Garden suitable as corporate gifts. We hope this
appeal will bring a good response from Boston business concerns. Through the
assistance of the Bicentennial Office, the Friends will be able for its part to
establish specific funds, the contributions to which will be tax-deductible. One
such project may be a special planting program for trees and shrubbery.

Dogs

As members well know, the leash law passed last year has not been staunchly
enforced. However, there are now several hopeful developments. Mayor White has
appointed an Animal Control Commission which includes two members of the Friends.
In addition, police officers will soon be equipped with citations they can issue
to anyone whose dog is running loose in the Garden, and the Animal Rescue League,
hitherto shorthanded, has now a second dog catcher and truck. Whether these
measures will improve the situation may depend partly on public demand. If you
have inquiries or complaints, we urge you to call or write Mr. James Shevlin, Chair-
man, Animal Control Commission, City Hall, Boston 02201 (tel: 722-4100).

-3-

New Commissioner

Members of the Friends and other civic organizations met in November with
the new Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, Anthony E. Forgione. We appreciated
his frank and open discussion of problems and were especially pleased with his new
maintenance procedures. The results of his efforts are already visible, and we
look forward to working with Mr. Forgione as plans develop for the Garden.

Membership

Renewal notices were mailed in July, and the response was excellent. However,
some cards are still among the missing. In hope that this was a summer oversight,
there follows a form which dilatory members may detach and return with their 1973-
1974 contribution. We need and earnestly solicit your continued help and
participation.

Henry Lee
President

I/We wish to renew my/our membership in the Friends of the Public Garden for
1973-1974 and enclose herewith a membership contribution for:

Q Single Member $ 2.00

I I Family Member $ 5.00

I I Commercial $25.00

M

Address

Zip

Please mail this form and your contribution to: Friends of the Public Garden,
90 Mt. Vernon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108.

^>

JKKAIVLXA

b««M AlUlltWAC ACauCla

Park Plaza: Many risks, few benefits •^/jfc/ii

e

1,

s
s
U

r
e
e
t

s

e
e

As representatives of four civic
organizations, the undersigned be-
lieve that recent commentary on the
BRA'S Park Plaza Renewal Plan has
failed to measure public opposition
to the Plan among Boston residents
and has drawn a misleading picture
of the project's supposed benefits.
. . . We believe that certain general
considerations should be made clear.

The property tax benefits to the
city were doubtful. On the basis of
the ERA'S figures, even if all went
well with Park Plaza and on schedule,
the advantages of increasing the tax
base would have been largely offset
by the tax subsidies to be given the
developer and the cost of additional
municipal services required by the
development. Other supposed tax
benefits to the city were found after
careful study by Comr. Crampton to
have been "greatly inflated." In short,
no showing was ever made, or could
have been made, that Park Plaza
would produce a tax bonanza.

The claim that approval of the
plan would facilitate immediate jobs
for construction workers was illusory.
The project was so speculative, its
chances of proper financing so dubi-
ous, its long delay in the courts so
certain that no one could foresee such
jobs for years to come. A suitable
program implemented in smaller seg-
ments, together with other projects
in the city already in design stages,
would provide far more assurance
of building jobs and provide it now
when it is needed.

The idea that redevelopment in
the Combat Zone is dependent on
Park Plaza is equally false. The Com-
bat Zone was no more than a tenuous
part of the Plan scheduled for a far
distant future. Despite many years of
intermittent review, the BRA has yet
to produce a proposal for an area that
is truly blighted and crying for im-
provement. We urge the BRA to ex-
pedite plans now and to move ahead
on this important work.

The BRA proposal, as submitted
to the state, would have seriously en-
dangered the Common and the Public
Garden. The proposed buildings if
placed on the same scale next to
Central Park would be higher than
Mount Washington. Yet the plan was
accompanied by no final environ-
mental studies, no alternative de-
signs, no commitment to the preser-
vation of these historic parks. In al-
lowing the BRA to fulfill an environ-
mental work program at a laTg* stage
of the project. Commissioner Cramp-
ton bent the law as far as it would
go. There is no reason whj' a project
for the benefit of a relative few
should threaten public parks dedi-
cated to the enjoyment of all and
endanger historic downtown resi-
dential areas inhabited by thousands.

Virtually every Boston civic orga-
nization we have heard from has
opposed this Plan simply because it
offered many risks and few benefits.
It is time to put it aside and start
again. We support now, as we always
have, the idea of improvement in the
Park Square area. We need new and
imaginative plans that will revive the
area, benefit the city, and provide
new jobs while still protecting prop-
erty owners, neighboring districts,
and the city's precious, dwindling
open spaces. As members of the Civic
Advisory Committee and of estab-
lished citizens' associations, we pledge
our help and cooperation in stimu-
lating and reviewing such plans, and
the sooner we get on with the job
the better.

PAUL PRINDLE
Neighborhood Association
of the Back Bay
BERNARD BORMAN
Beacon Hill Civic Association
HENRY LEE

Friends of the Public Garden
JON STRAIGHT
Bay Village Association
STELLA TRAFFORD
Friends of the Public Garden
Boston