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City Hall Plaza getting Astroturfed today
By adamg on Mon, 07/13/2015 - 12:37pm
Shamus Moynihan watched workers putting down Astroturf on a 40x40 stretch of City Hall Plaza as part of Mayor Walsh's effort to make the normally barren brick wasteland more fun. Part of the effort also includes the plastic Adirondack chairs the city recently plunked down on the plaza.
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Comments
Now put a piece of green turf
Now put a piece of green turf near Cambridge St. and you've got yourself a par 3.
Next week, free lipstick for your pig
.
Emulating Palin
will only get your daughter knocked up.
You mean tax payer funded
You mean tax payer funded lipstick.
How about, um... REAL grass?
Just a thought.... dig up some of that brick and put REAL grass, flowers, trees, etc....
One big problem with that idea
There's a subway station underneath all that brick. Which is one of the reasons the fountain that was originally installed when the plaza was built was decomissioned shortly thereafter.
Greenway
When you stand in the middle of the greenway you'd never know there was a massive highway buried a few feet down given the trees, plants, and fountains.
When you stand in the middle
When you stand in the middle of the greenway you can see exit ramps north and south of you with cars speeding out of them from the highway beneath. With some vent shafts thrown in for good measure. If you didn't notice there was a highway beneath you I think you need to lay off the drugs.
So you've never been to the Greenway?
That's okay. But no, there are not exit (or entrance) ramps every block, meaning that one can in fact be on the Greenway and in fact be oblivious to the fact that 1 there was once a highway there and 2 it was replaced by a road that runs underneath the park.
Now Atlantic Ave is hard to miss, but this is about putting grass in on the plaza at Government Center, not your ignorance of the Big Dig.
I've worked on both sides of
I've worked on both sides of Atlantic Avenue both during and post big dig for years and never been dumb enough to not notice there is a highway underneath. The ramps are not that far apart, only Mr Magoo wouldn't be able to see the ramps.
M'kay
The next nice day, take a walk from High Street to Christopher Colimbus Park. Count how many on and off ramps to the Central Artery you see. Here's a hint- it's a nice round number.
Just because it's there doesn't mean you can see it. If you are telling me that if you were at the corner of State Street and Atlantic Ave and had never been there before you'd automatically know there is a 8 lane highway underneath you, I'd say you have Superman's eyesight.
Who cares
If you can see exit ramps or not? Waquiot's point was you could still grow grass in City Hall Plaza, regardless of whether the subway was underneath.
Unfortunately, there's still
Unfortunately, there's still the eight lane highway on either side of the thing.
Can you see Russia?
or even the PRC? (People's Republic of Cambridge)
Just a Menino land grab.
That fountain was open for many years and but was shut down by Menino, who wanted to sell the area to a hotel chain. (But the Feds wouldn't allow a hotel next to the JFK building). His honor claimed there was no way to stop water from dripping into the subway. I'm pretty sure that if can put a man on the moon we can figure out a little run-off.
There are two subway stations under Boston Common
not to mention a parking garage, but there's still plenty of grass above.
And they both have a lot of
And they both have a lot of water damage.
Container garden for Grass?
ahhh ... not quite yet:
UHub/Herald investigation 6
UHub/Herald investigation 6 months later.....
City Hall $5,000 Astroturf installation billed $10 million to taxpayers.
Sorry UHub but the Harald is working with the next
Scot Brown wanna be Geoff Deihl. Bad Deihl will present a secret audit done by the Pioneer shillstastute followed by a Beacon Hill illrepute pay for white white paper on unionized artificial grass vs. the nearly free Chinese stuff.
Poor timing
Should have had it out when women's world cup soccer games were shown as a reminder of how the women had to play on plastic instead of grass like the men do.
[edit]
Oh, now I see those chairs in the photo background in shade...
Oh yay
now City Hall Plaza is going to look like Times Square, full of random beach chairs and pedestrian plazas mostly occupied by the homeless and randoms from Kansas.
the Adirondack chairs are ironic..
... since City Hall is taking away benches with backs from parks (like Boston Garden/Commons and Roslindale Sq) and replacing them with less comfortable, backless benches.
This is how bad City Hall Plaza is:
even fake grass is an improvement!
Floor By Floor Online Directory of City Hall needed !
City Hall needs an online Floor By Floor Directory! Wayfinding in the building is a big problem not always adequately addressed by asking an attendant upon entering the building.
Pink Flamingos would look great
against the fake green grass.
What they should do is put up
What they should do is put up some awnings. There's almost no shade on the plaza most of the day.