Parks Department Recognized with Preservation and Climate Change Awards

The Boston Parks and Recreation Division’s mission of defending the Metropolis of Boston park system’s storied legacy whereas embracing sustainability for future generations has been acknowledged with a pair of awards in historic preservation and local weather resiliency.

The Boston Preservation Alliance not too long ago introduced that the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial on Boston Frequent is one in every of six 2022 Preservation Award recipients that will probably be acknowledged at their thirty fourth Annual Preservation Achievement Awards ceremony being held October 20 on the historic Charles River Speedway Advanced in Brighton.

A ceremony was held on Boston Frequent June 1 because the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial was rededicated after a complete $2.8 million restoration challenge undertaken by a partnership together with the Buddies of the Public Backyard, the Boston Parks and Recreation Division, the Nationwide Park Service, and the Museum of African American Historical past. The scope of labor included restoration of the bronze reduction and surrounding stone, reinforcement and seismic protections, and plaza enhancements to extend accessibility and entry to the monument.

Thought of one of many preeminent works of public artwork within the nation, the Memorial honors the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of many first Black regiments to serve within the Civil Battle, and its white colonel, Robert Gould Shaw. As dramatized within the 1989 movie “Glory,” the 54th served most notably on the Battle of Fort Wagner in South Carolina. Information of their braveness and dedication on the battlefield unfold and led to different Black regiments being fashioned, and by the top of the conflict 10% of the Union Military was made up of Black troopers.

In 1865, Black businessman Joshua Benton Smith referred to as for a memorial to be constructed in Boston and in 1883 artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens was commissioned. Devoted to perfection, Saint-Gaudens didn’t full the sculpture till 1897. By the late twentieth century the Memorial was in extraordinarily poor situation resulting from corrosion and vandalism. In 1981, the Buddies of the Public Backyard led a marketing campaign for the monument’s restoration and to determine an endowment for its care. That partnership continues right now with the Boston Parks and Recreation Division, the Nationwide Park Service, and the Museum of African American Historical past to make sure the memorial is correctly preserved and maintained with a view to enlighten and educate generations to return.

A second distinction was introduced on June 16 when the Environmental Enterprise Council of New England (EBC) shared that the Parks Division’s Langone Park/Puopolo Playground renewal challenge on the waterfront within the North Finish was the recipient of the 2022 EBC Award for Local weather Change Mission of the 12 months.

The park is the primary within the metropolis designed with local weather resilient options embedded all through to guard the shoreline, the neighborhood, and different public property from projected sea stage rise and elevated storm occasions. In collaboration with Local weather Prepared Boston and different metropolis businesses and stakeholders, the Parks Division constructed an built-in seawall inside to the park with overlooks and seating on an elevated boardwalk. 

The design incorporates structural parts together with floor enhancements, micro piles, and light-weight soils to raise the park as much as seven toes with out affecting adjoining buildings, properties, and the present seawall. The challenge additionally implements stormwater and infrastructure safety methods to permit for programmed flood pathways and sooner restoration of the park and neighborhood after storm occasions.

In response to the EBC announcement, “the challenge offers essential, equitable, and climate-resilient lively and passive recreation alternatives to a various, multi-generational inhabitants and the resilient options replicate an modern mixture of local weather adaptation and mitigation concerns with excessive design worth. The challenge acts as a proof of idea for the Metropolis of Boston’s dedication to Local weather Resilient Design and serves as a testomony to sustainable improvement and resiliency.”

The Award for Local weather Change Mission of the 12 months, established in January 2020, acknowledges a challenge or endeavor which demonstrates management in local weather change. The businesses and businesses concerned within the renewal challenge have been honored on the EBC’s annual awards celebration on the Hyatt Regency Lodge in Boston.

For extra data please contact the Boston Parks and Recreation Division at (617) 635-4505. Keep updated with information, occasions, and enhancements in Boston parks by signing up for our e-mail record at bit.ly/Get-Parks-Emails and following our social channels @bostonparksdept on Twitter, Fb, and Instagram.