The City Council's Boston Common Committee held a hearing Monday to discuss a federally-funded capital grant of $200,000.00 from the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service to refurbish the decaying Brewer Fountain on the Tremont Street side of the Boston Common.
The committee recommended Monday that the $200,000 be sent to the City Council for a vote on Wednesday. "If all goes well work on the fountain will begin in early spring 2009 and take about a year to complete," said City Councilor Michael Ross, co-chair of the Boston Common committee. "The important thing here is that the Tremont Street side of the Common is not as built up as it could be and this side of the park is in need of the most work. I think refurbishing the fountain will certainly kickoff the effort to turn this part of the Common around."
City Councilor Sal LaMattina added that the fountain "is one of the nicest fountains we have in the City of Boston". "We have have an opportunity here to restore a city treasure," said LaMattina, who co-chairs the committee with Ross. "I'm looking forward to turning this beautiful landmark back to its original glory."
The Boston Parks and Recreation Department received a $200,000 grant from Save America's Treasures, to be matched by $300,000 from the mayor's Capital Budget, and $100 from the Fund for Parks and Recreation. The city will refurbish the bronze statue fountain, and install a new water circulating system.
The fountain was given to the city in 1867, and has been spewing green ever since. According to Henry Lee, who leads the Friends of the Public Garden, the fountain was restored about 10 years ago, but the water pump and the recirculating system became flooded.
“That all has to be replaced, plus the work on the monument itself,” said Lee. “It has never run very well for very long in its entire history. William Dean Howell looked at the allegorical figures [in the fountain] and said it was the four seasons of drought. He said that 120 years ago, and nothing much has changed.” Lee said that lovingly, because the fountain is a treasure that not only needs this funding, but an ongoing endowment.
The area surrounding it is also in need of renovation. “It is bleak and barren and in very bad condition,” he said. “We think part of making the fountain once again the centerpiece of the Common is making it more hospitable and attractive. That, too, will cost a great deal of money.” The Friends are working with a local landscaping architectural firm to develop plans and hope to have “something to study” within the next months, said Lee.
For now, the $600,000 refurbishment will include disassembly, removal, transporting to an offsite conservation studio, cleaning, repair, repatination, reassembly and reinstallation of the historic 1868 bronze fountain, said a spokesman from the Parks Department.
The project will also clean, repoint and repair existing granite masonry elements, and include a bird deterrent system. Bids to start the project, as designed by Carr, Lynch and Sandell of Cambridge, are due Thursday, October 23, and assuming bids are received and are appropriate, the project will be awarded that day, said Hines. The contract will probably be executed within eight weeks, with work starting in December. According to Mary Hines of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the bronze sculptural fountain piece will be restored offsite in a conservator’s studio.
While the fountain is away, the existing concrete basin will be partially removed, new piping will be installed and a new, more historically accurate concrete basin will be installed. The water level in the fountain will be slightly reduced, but will be adequate to maintain the sound of the water splashing. The basin will be lined with dark gray, 2-3-inch flat stones set in a bed of mortar.
In addition, two new underground vaults will be installed in the turf panel directly east of the fountain. The equipment vault will hold pumps, filters, heaters, and other equipment required to run the fountain, while the storage vault will hold the fountain water, leaving the fountain empty during night hours. The new pumps will be higher capacity and will force more water through the fountain than in previous years.
Once everything is installed, the bronze statue will be returned to the site and re-installed atop the existing granite plinth.
For now, Lee is crossing his fingers that the mayor’s recent cutback plans won’t include the fountain. “It’s tied to other funding,” he said hopefully.
The Friends of the Public Garden understand current economic conditions mean the parks may be overlooked. “It’s nothing that a few million dollars wouldn’t take care of,” Lee said, joking. But more seriously, he said, perhaps it is time that the residents around the park look into funding their front yard.
“In many other cities, groups have gone to neighbors and argued successfully that half the value of their property is looking over the park,” Lee said. “Everyone wants to see the Common improved, but the city is short of funds.” He also argued that the parks receive no improvement money from the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which runs the underground garage, or the MBTA, which has several stops on the Common.
“Both state agencies use and damage the Common but don’t provide any funds to support the Common. Nor do any of the development firms in the neighborhoods,” he said. Again, Lee knows the economic climate isn’t very sunny right now. “We’re not expecting any big bonanzas in the next six months, but one can always hope,” he added.
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