Hey, there! Log in / Register
Just one bench left on one side of the Jamaica Pond Boathouse, and you probably wouldn't want to sit on it
By adamg on Thu, 05/02/2019 - 11:35am
Workers getting ready to lay down a new asphalt path along Jamaica Pond near the boathouse and gazebo have ripped up all the benches on one side of them, save for Matthew Hincman's prank-turned-art-installation. Remains of the other benches now sit in small stacks of wood slats along the path and a couple of collections of the metal supports:
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Not very secure. How much
Not very secure. How much does scrap metal go for these days?
My thought exactly...
as I walked past the metal pile yesterday evening. Not secure at all! ‘Wonder if the pile is still there today?
Also, I didn’t grab a photo because I knew that the omnipresent Adam had probably already been by.
Too bad that summer sunset watching from the benches at the Pond this season will be deferred.
The other thing that's apparently gone ...
Which I was so busy paying attention to the benches I didn't even notice, but:
There was a large and oddly bent tree on that side with one large branch that dipped down over and towards the pond, almost to the level of the water (well, right into the water this spring). It's the one that you know would make an amazing photo if ever the water were perfectly still and mirrored back the branch and all the smaller branches coming off it. And now it's gone! At least, that big hooked branch.
Damn turkeys! They'll take
Damn turkeys! They'll take anything that isn't nailed down!
I'm excited for the redone
I'm excited for the redone paths along the pond. But they should have been done a long time ago as much of it is in terrible shape. Boston streets are never allowed to get that bad without being fixed. Why is it ok for people on foot to deal with terrible infrastructure but not cars?
Yo, DJ!
Not a lot of deep cuts in your vinyl collection I know, but, can you change the record, please?
Give it a rest
I've driven on many Boston streets and run along this path, and I can tell you that in fact there are many, many streets in Boston that are in worse shape than this path.
Not griping about the work on the path. Just pointing out how skewed your mind is.
Hilarious
Kino, your comment that Boston streets are never allowed to get that bad is friggin hilarious, and not in any way connected to reality. But please do proceed.
What???
This completely false statement (some might call it an intentional lie) is going to live forever in the Kinopio Hall Of Shame.
Nice to see them doing the
Nice to see them doing the pavement. The last time they did something with the pavement was about 1980 when they put in the "health stations" and jogging path on the side.
As a kid it was a big deal when those stations were put in...we thought we were fancy AF.
When my life partner of 25
When my life partner of 25 years died last June, I actually contacted the DCR and the Jamaica Pond Association about the cost of putting a small brass plate on the exact bench where he loved to do his fishing. He was a fixture at JP Pond and grew up in JP. Chatted with Maura Hennigan when she walked the dogs, was greeting by all the regulars, talk people how to fish, etc. When I found out how much it cost, I declined. Now that I read this article on UHub, THANK GOODNESS I declined!! Then I would have been GREATLY pissed to see that my husband's name would have been thrown into a junk pile.
jamaica pond benches
does anyone know how long these benches are going to be gone? that stinks.
amazing
If that un-sittable bench were anywhere in Fenway, there would be a goose nest in it. How did JP manage to avoid that? Too much foot traffic past it?
Hmmm Un-sittable,
But maybe the Gag Bench would be nice for a little lie down along the shore line. Has anyone tried?
I have tried.
the way the bench is curved means you'd have to be really skinny to be comfortable at the "bottom" of the curve. I have a 30 inch waist and no hips, and I don't fit. on your side, maybe.
Yeah
There's a lot of foot traffic past it and there's a lot of ass traffic in it.
If I owned a bench like that
If I owned a bench like that I'd name it U-Hub.
The pressing question
Why did the benches need to be disassembled?
Just a guess
I have no inside knowledge here, but my guess is that the bench footings are probably being replaced as part of the same work, and so that's why benches were removed.
These look like the kind of benches that are made of cast iron (which lasts practically forever) and wooden slats (which rot over time). The slats likely were due for replacement, and so this is as good a time as any to do that. So, that's probably the reason for the disassembly.
Whatever benches ....
.. they put back in, hopefully they will have backs. It is so nice to sit on a park bench, lean back and relax and enjoy the park and passers by. Unfortunately, in recent years, the city has been replacing benches with backs with benches without backs (e.g. Boston Garden and Roslindale Square).
Please, please, please put back benches with backs!
If the benches are not there
If the benches are not there by Saturday morning my friends and I are carrying a huge couch they're throwing out and leaving it down there. A couch that only we are used to from over the years of watching sports and eating barbecue. And nobody else will want to sit on it because it's so nasty. GOOD!!
Tell everyone..
.. it's art, then no one can remove it. Perhaps a sign with the name of the artwork.
"Outdoor Couch Potato"