 |
||
|
||
|
Park proponents want peace Boston Sunday Herald Several years after her 21-year-old son was stabbed to death over a leather jacket, Cambridge sculptor Judy McKie began designing a slender sculpture of soaring birds to be displayed in a planned downtown park to honor victims of violence. The 15-foot sculpture would be cast in bronze and covered with a soft green patina. It is the planned centerpiece of a Garden of Peace to be erected on part of the plaza outside the Saltonstall building, at Cambridge and Bowdoin streets. But the future of the garden remains in jeopardy, despite endorsements by former Gov. William F. Weld, Gov. Paul Cellucci, Attorney General Tom Reilly, Rep. Barbara Gardner and several community organizations. When plans for the park began in the mid '90s, the Saltonstall building was being tested to determine the extent of its asbestos problems. Last year, the Saltonstall was largely evacuated and bids were solicited from developers to rehab the building. Supporters of the park have been unable to get a firm commitment to the project from the Legislature. "Basically (this project) is up in the air," said project coordinator Beatrice Nessen. "It is not clear what the Legislature and the administration are going to agree on as a means of developing the Saltonstall building. Our concern is that a commitment to the garden be incorporated in whatever solution is agreed on." The Legislature has received five preliminary development proposals for the state-owned site. A bill filed by Cellucci that included a provision to protect the planned park has been stalled in committee since last summer. The 6,000-square-foot public space would offer business people an outdoor park for lunch, and peace demonstrators a place to gather for anti-violence initiatives, said Nessen. The planned design features a winding dry bed of river stones leading to a triangular pool of water. The names of homicide victims would be carved in the stones. The sculpture, which rises out of the pool, is a symbol of rebirth, said McKie. "I felt strongly this place needed to be a place of comfort where survivors of homicide could gather and feel hope," said McKie, whose son was murdered in Cambridge in 1989. "Out of the tragedy comes possibility of change. I knew this park had to be a meditative place filled with natural elements." McKie chose to depict slender herons arching skyward to give "a feeling of flight and a message of hope." A renowned sculptor, McKie's work can be found in the permanent collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln and the Yale University Art Gallery, among other museums. "This helps me to feel as though there is something I can do personally that makes people aware of violence and the healing process," said McKie. "I don't have the skills it takes to be an organizer or a speaker, but I can do something visual that speaks to this problem. For anyone who has lost somebody (to homicide), there is an incredible need to do something to change things." Landscape designer Catherine Melina, a graduate of the Harvard School of Design and a senior designer at Pressley Associates in Cambridge, volunteered her time to design the project. Melina aims to plant blue spruce and river birch tress, and a groundcover of Irish moss. Proponents of the park continue to raise funds in the hopes that an official approval will come through. Nessen and other volunteers have secured a $30,000 grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts and expect another $30,000 from the Browne Fund. Nessen has spoken to potential developers about the park. "One developer said he would incorporate the garden and even contribute to its construction," said Nessen. "Another was interested in the garden, but said it was too early to make any financial commitment. The other three did not respond." Fund-raising goals for the project will depend on the development scenario selected by the state. Nessen estimates the park will cost $750,000, of which the group has raised about $100,000. The State Department of Capital Asset Management is evaluating the preliminary development proposals and is expected to make a recommendation by the end of the month. "We are hopeful we will be able to incorporate this (park) into any private redevelopment effort," said DCAM spokesman Kevin Flanigan. Added Nessen, "We see this memorial as a way to heal the entire
community. This is something that we need. Violence affects everyone."
|
|
|
|
||
