Boston City Councilor and Boston Daily guest blogger Mike Ross has been a busy guy lately. When he’s not preventing voter fraud in Florida, he’s been leading the effort to class up Boston Common.

Earlier this week, the Globe reported that a final version of the councilors’ plan will be presented in mid-December. Ross gives us a sneak peek at what our new Common could look like. Take it away, Mike.

The Boston Common is America’s first public park, and is the destination spot for 3 million tourists who walk the Freedom Trail every year, many of whom drop by the Visitor’s Center. Millions of locals visit the Common annually; to eat lunch, use the softball fields, participate in demonstrations, parades, and charity events, watch Shakespeare on the Common, skate or play at the Frog Pond, and as a spot to enjoy some fresh air and open space.

But lately, the Common has shown signs of stress: eroding turf, cracked sidewalks, decrepit statues, a fountain in disrepair, and whole areas in need of major restoration. Crime is on the rise, mostly occurring at night after the work crowd has gone home. Meanwhile, our city is under a budget crunch, and this year’s budget is not getting any better, as we face likely cuts in state aid.

So I joined this year with two of my colleagues, City Councilors Sal LaMattina and Bill Linehan, who, like me, represent districts that abut the Common, to determine how Boston can do better. The overriding question being, “How do we turn America’s oldest park into America’s greatest park?”

We listened to what residents, businesses, institutions, nonprofits, the police, and various agencies were witnessing on the Common, and where they thought we could do better. We sought information from other cities facing similar problems, so we could study best practices that we could put in place in Boston.

We have received emails and calls, and we’ve read with interest the vigorous online debate about the future of the Common, and the work we’ve been doing on the Special Committee on the Boston Common. It is rewarding to know that so many residents of Boston are just as passionate about this treasured parkland as we are. The broad range of ideas has been helpful, and it is gratifying to know that nearly everyone agrees that we should all expect more of this important public space.

In the next few weeks, our Committee will finalize a series of recommendations, based on all the information we’ve gathered over the last year. We will look back at what we’ve learned, and make suggestions to the Mayor and the Parks Department with specific ideas that will help the Common.

Our major premise is that the Common will benefit as more positive activity is generated in the park.

The proposal that I’m most excited about is the establishment of a restaurant on the park. Our vision is a popular eatery that entices a diverse and vibrant crowd. When our Committee visited New York City, we saw two sites that were intriguing models for the Common: The Shake Shack at Madison Park, which serves $7 hamburgers and draws huge lines; and the Boathouse at Central Park, which provides a cafeteria, indoor and outdoor bar, and moderately priced restaurant, all with a great view.

There are several ideal locations for this establishment that will be presented in the report. We see great opportunity in this effort for improvements in the park, the neighborhood, and the city as a whole. A restaurant provides benefits by increasing year-round, late-evening traffic on the Common, which has a positive impact on crime in the area, and helps reinvigorate the neighborhood.

Another important idea we have is to create a conservancy for the Boston Common that would be a way to bring together residents, abutters, area businesses and institutions, environmentalists, and community leaders, all working towards the same goal: getting the best out of the Boston Common. This conservancy would act similarly to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. If I may quote directly from their Mission Statement:

Our programs focus on:

• parks restoration and maintenance
• public education including presentations, exhibits and publications
• constituency-building and park advocacy
• volunteer and other activities which promote parks stewardship
• improvement of public access to and through the park system, among other activities.

We see a Conservancy as serving a broad constituency of interests, and believe strongly that there is room for a Conservancy to make tremendous positive impact on the Common.

Let me be clear: We do not seek to create an alternative to Friends of the Public Garden, which is the established, and only, friends group. Rather, we envision such a conservancy being the vehicle that allows neighboring businesses, institutions and residents to raise money and awareness for a public place that, frankly, needs renewed interest by the citizenry. A conservancy is not—contrary to hysterical ramblings of some corners of the blogosphere—an attempt to allow private control over a public space. It’s simply not the case.

Other ideas we are presenting include establishing of a defined dog park, and a permanent old-fashioned carousel on the Frog Pond. We will also express our strong opposition to the MBTA’s plans to tear up portions of the Common for a decade, in order to complete the Silver Line. There are perfectly good tunnels already underground that aren’t being used and could accommodate light rail instead.

Our open spaces are a treasure in the City of Boston, and many of them have been lost for one reason or another. If we continue on the path we are on, my colleagues and I fear we will lose the Common as we know it. We are nearing the end of the first year of research and conversation, and will complete the year with the release of a final report and vision document that we expect will generate additional ideas and discussion.

The Boston Common remains our city’s most important green space, and we can’t make it what it can be without you. So please remain engaged, stay in touch, and let us know what you think.

Mike Ross

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 1:27 pm and is filed under City Life, Ross Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted by Amy Derjue on 11/20/08 in City Life, Ross Report 1 Comment »