Boston got a chance to see what will likely fill the space abandoned by Interstate 93 Thursday night, as Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials showed their plans for the space once the Central Artery Project, or Big Dig, is completed.
More than 300 people attended a forum and animated film hosted by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority illustrating the plans. The forum was the third in a series aimed at gaining public input on the restoration of the area currently occupied by I-93.
The Big Dig was proposed in the 1980s as a solution to traffic congestion. The tunnels will replace the existing elevated highway with an underground tunnel, expanding to ten lanes of traffic, freeing up space and reconnecting the North End to the Wharf District.
The film, entitled ‘A City in Bloom,’ took a look at the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a stretch of open space that will be created when the elevated highway is converted into a tunnel. Running in a north-south fashion through the center of Boston, the Rose Kennedy Greenway will feature several new parks and buildings.
In an interview before the forum, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew J. Amorello said the MTA decided to hold the forums because ‘these parks are so precious.’
‘When the artery comes down, this is the chance [for development] the public has to be a part of this,’ Amorello said. ‘The only way for them to be a part of this is to have these types of meetings. The forum is an opportunity for everybody to make a contribution.’
The forum focused on the design aspects of three major areas the North End Park, China Town Park and the Wharf District Park, which will all contribute to the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Representatives from six major companies hired by the MTA for the design of the parks presented the audience with their plans.
‘The Rose Kennedy Greenway marks the end of the Artery Tunnel project and the beginning of a new era in the life of this great city,’ said Rebecca Barnes, Boston’s Chief Planner.
‘The Rose Kennedy Greenway continues the Boston tradition of cutting-edge parks systems, designed to serve particular infrastructure roles,’ she said. ‘The Greenway will create long-awaited public outdoor space for some of Boston’s densest neighborhoods and commercial districts.’
In a publication, the MTA outlined the locations and functions of the three parks in focus during the forum. The North End Park ‘is a significant ‘hinge’ point between the grand civic spaces of downtown and the intimacy of Boston’s oldest neighborhood,’ the publication noted. The forum featured the rationale behind the design of the parks. Each park is to have its own unique elements, while creating a unified green belt.
The Wharf District Park will be the largest of the three. The park will serve ‘as a threshold from downtown to the harbor and also as a critical link in the Greenway itself,’ the publication said.
The China Town Park will have several Chinese cultural aspects. According to Professor Kongjian Yu of Turenscape a Beijing based company contracted for the design of the park the China Town Park will have three layers of meanings.
‘The first layer is about space,’ Yu said, ‘and how to create an area which delivers a sense of space.
‘The second layer is to create an atmosphere,’ he added. ‘The atmosphere will be created using the materials used, the colors and other details. The third layer is to try and set up a space where people can communicate.’
The audience played an active role in the forum, asking several questions that were answered by the six-member panel.
‘Just the green part gets me all excited,’ said MTA public affairs employee Genaise Gonzalez.
‘It’s great,’ she said. ‘If it turns out the way they showed it on the film, it’ll be even greater. Now we just have to wait for it to become a reality.’