In Boston, within the Government Center section of the city, is a wide brick walking and gathering place knonw as City Hall Plaza. On the south side of Boston's City Hall is a kiosk that has three sides. On one side is a sign that provides information about the plaza, while the other two are decorated with images. The main sign states the following:
"City Hall Plaza
[City of Boston Seal in the Background]
It is a place of celebration, where Bostonians gather to cheer on a local sports team or enjoy an outdoor concert under the summer evening sky. It is a public space that acts as the cross-roads of our community, the junction where Boston's historic Freedom, Black Heritage, and Walk to the Sea trails meet. This place, where you are now standing, is Boston's front yard, City Hall Plaza.
This dynamic area was once known as Scollay Square, an irregular triangle formed by the junction of several thoroughfares leading to Beacon Hill the Tremont Street shopping district, the North and West Ends, the waterfront, and the business and financial districts. In the early 20th century, Scollay Square was populated by tattoo parlors, burlesque houses, tobacconists, novelty shops, and second-hand goods stores. A gritty urban center teeming with visiting servicemen and merchant seamen, it was desribed by Boston Herald columnist Robert Taylor as "the sailor's Mecca and the sailor's curse." Despite its surfeit of local color, Scollay Square was a crowded and dilapidated area.
In response to these conditions, city planner focused on Scollay Square in the 1950s as the epicenter of a massive urban renewal effort known as Government Center, with City Hall Plaza as the keystone of the plan. When Scollay Square was razed, a total of 22 streets were eliminated. However, the Sears Crescent block (1841) was saved to act as a reminder of the link between the city's past and present. The Sears Crescent was, along with its neighboring street Cornhill, a popular literary center where noted writers, artists, and poets, including Emerson and Hawthorne, congregated Government Center, as it appears today, includes the John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Center Plaza, an MBTA station, City Hall, and the nine acre red brick plaza. To its designers and proponents, Government Center represented a Boston backing away from its provincial past, and heading into a bold new future. To its detractors, it was a cold, sterile, and uninviting place.
In its 30-plus years of existence, City Hall Plaza has served its citizens and the City of Boston well. The rallies, public celebrations, and other special events held here have all left and indelible imprint on our history. Since the Plaza's history is one of growth and change, Mayor Thomas M. Menino recognnized that City Hall Plaza must evolve in order to better serve the needs of residents and visitors. A public/private partnership, the Trust for City Hall Plaza, was created to work with the City and community to shape a new vision ofr the essential public space. In the coming years, the historic gathering place with undergo further changes as it is adapted for the needs and enjoyment of future generations."
Opinions on the effectiveness of City Hall Plaza differ even now. An article in the local newspapers described in more detail about the plans to revitilize the area (see source below):
Other Source:
Boston.com (City Hall Renderings):
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