The construction to improve accessibility and restore the iconic fountains around the Boston Public Garden is expected to end this summer almost a year after the work first began last September.
The Child Fountain Restoration Project is the last of three refurbishment phases commemorating the 50th anniversary of Friends of the Public Garden, an advocacy group for the 24-acre park and surrounding area, adjacent to Boston Common, in the heart of the city's downtown.
The first phase of work was completed late in November before winter settled in.
The final project will ensure that the Public Garden is not only more accessible, but also more visible to visitors, Rebecca McKevitz, director of capital projects and parks care for the advocacy group, told the Daily Free Press, an independent student newspaper published by Boston University (BU).
Friends of the Public Garden raised more than $5.3 million through community philanthropy for the three projects, in addition to an art installation in the Common and special lighting on the statues from Arlington Street to Massachusetts Avenue. Another $1 million was endowed to contribute to the foundation restoration.
"None of this would happen without public support," said Lynn Page Flaherty, the vice president for advancement and external affairs at Friends of the Public Garden. "It's really a testament to how much the community loves these parks."
19th Century Park in Need of Renovations
First opened in 1837, the Boston Public Garden, America's first public botanical park, is bordered by Charles Street and Boston Common to the east, Beacon Street and Beacon Hill to the north, Arlington Street and Back Bay to the west, and Boylston Street to the south.
The current construction effort has primarily focused on the historic George Washington statue and the children's fountains, impacting the Public Garden's Arlington Street entrance, McKevitz explained.
"It's a pretty significant construction project, and I think for us, one of the more sophisticated ones," she added.
Landscape buildup over the years led the fountains to sink into the ground, according to McKevitz, making them unable to function properly.
Boston.com noted that the restoration of the park also will include a new water circulation system, a repaving of the pathways around the fountains and an installation of new lighting to help make the fountains more noticeable to visitors.
Most of the refurbishment takes place 11 ft. underground, such as the installation of a 30-ton concrete vault where mechanical and electrical equipment are stored, McKevitz said in speaking to the Daily Free Press.
"So much of the work happens underground [and] it's funny because no one ever ends up seeing it, but it's what makes the project work," she explained.
A number of steps have been taken to ensure preservation in the Public Garden during the course of the work.
For instance, McKevitz said, "The child sculptures needed to be removed from the site, so the sculptures [and] the granite plinths that they sit on were removed by our art conservator and taken off site to his studio. He can clean them, restore them and keep them safe and out of the way of the construction."
Boston's winter climate and excess precipitation occasionally halts site work, but recent warm temperatures and an approaching spring signal hope for the upcoming reinstallation of the fountains, she told the BU student news site.
With the Arlington Street entrance of the park closed for construction, Flaherty said it has allowed Friends of the Public Garden to talk to the community about the renovations and garner excitement for when the work will be completed.
Though parts of the Public Garden will look different, she said much of it will remain the same.
"Being our nation's first public botanical garden, it's really meant to be sort of a place where you stroll, visit, sit and contemplate," Flaherty noted.
Her group does not have a specific completion date for the restoration project, but she hopes that warm weather will allow for more sitework to be done so that visitors can enjoy familiar pastimes as soon as possible, such as the park's swan boats on the Public Garden pond, usually accessible in April.
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