“Esplanade 2020” brought more than 100 stakeholders in the Charles River Esplanade together at the Boston Public Library Wednesday to share their hopes for a 10-year vision for the historic park
At the first of four planned meetings, the non-profit Esplanade Association and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which has jurisdiction over the 3-mile-long park, solicited public feedback to help select priority projects and develop an attainable plan for the future.
Those in attendance broke into smaller groups to explore specific themes, including the park’s architecture, landscaping and accessibility, as well as activities and events on the Esplanade. The groups identified the strengths, weakness and opportunities in each category and reported their findings at the conclusion of the meeting.
Common criticisms were insufficient lighting, the need for more restrooms and the dilapidated state of the Community Boating dock.
While several groups expressed their dissatisfaction with the existing café, one group’s spokesperson suggested transforming the space into a multi-season restaurant – complete with outdoor fireplaces.
As for other opportunities, several groups pointed to the need for more public art, additional boating opportunities on the Charles River and expanded programming on the Esplanade during the winter months.
“From here, we’re trying to get groups together in each character area to further flesh out comments and develop ideas,” said John Shields, an urban designer, architect and Esplanade Association board member. “There’s a lot of respect for the Esplanade…but there’s also room for new ideas.
The next “Esplanade 2020” public session is scheduled for March 10.

While voters throughout the state historically elected GOP Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, the Back Bay favored Democrat Martha Coakley in last Tuesday’s race.
According to the city’s unofficial election results, approximately 62 percent of Back Bay voters in Ward 5, Precincts 8, 9 and 10 supported Coakley while Brown trailed at 37 percent. Citywide, Coakley received 69 percent of the votes and Brown garnered 30 percent of the ballots cast.
As for the turnout, 39 percent of registered voters in the Back Bay participated the election, compared with 43 percent of voters throughout the city.
Meanwhile, Rob Whitney, chairman of the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee, believes the ultimate outcome of the senatorial race was an aberration rather than an indication of new voting trends, both statewide and nationally.
“It was very much a reactionary push in response to the economy,” Whitney said. “I hope it was more of a rogue wave than a long-term storm.”

The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) recently announced that Mayor Thomas M. Menino will serve as the honorary chairman of the 28th Annual Run of the Charles Canoe and Kayak Race on Sunday, April 25.
The Run of the Charles is held to benefit the CRWA and its efforts to protect the health, beauty and accessibility of the Charles River. The annual Run of the Charles Canoe & Kayak Race showcases the ongoing improvements to the Charles River while drawing approximately 1,500 paddlers and thousands of spectators to enjoy a day on the river. The race features paddling races for all skill levels, from expert to beginner.
The public is welcome to join racers and celebrate Boston's Charles River at the Finish Line Festival at DCR's Artesani Park on Soldiers Field Road in Brighton. The Finish Line Festival features food, live music, awards, outdoor sports demonstrations and post-race picnics. Admission is free.
"I am very much looking forward to being a part of this year's Run of the Charles Canoe & Kayak Race," said Menino. "As one of the nation's oldest watershed associations, The Charles River Watershed Association has played a major role in restoring the Charles River, and I am eager to support their event that helps raise awareness and appreciation for this very special Boston landmark."
The Charles River Watershed Association initiated the Run of the Charles Canoe & Kayak Race to celebrate its work in cleaning up the Charles River. This year, the CRWA has proclaimed a "Weekend on the Charles" combining the Earth Day Charles River Cleanup on Saturday, April 24, with the Run of the Charles on Sunday, April 25. The cleanup is where hundreds of volunteers gather for a communal pick-up of trash along the banks of the river.
"It is a great honor for us to have Mayor Menino as the Honorary Chairman of this year's Run of the Charles," said CRWA Executive Director Bob Zimmerman. "A clean environment has long been a priority for Mayor Menino and his leadership has done so much good for the city of Boston. CRWA is confident that his involvement in the Run of the Charles will help further our mission of protecting, preserving and enjoying the Charles River."
The Run of the Charles brings greater public awareness to the Charles River as it offers corporations time to reflect on the importance of the Charles as an urban and rural landmark.
The Charles River Watershed Association is a non-profit organization committed to protecting and enhancing the health, beauty and accessibility of the Charles River and its tributaries and watersheds.
CRWA welcomes sponsorships for Run of the Charles. For more information on sponsorship, registration or any other aspect of the race, call 508-698-6810, e-mail rotc@crwa.org or visit www.charlesriver.org.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined officials from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum last week to officially kick off construction of the museum’s new 70,000 square foot addition. The $118 million new wing, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Burt Hill, is expected to open in early 2012. The new addition will allow the museum to relocate programs and functions that have unduly crowded the historic building, putting pressure on the landmark structure and its magnificent collections and diminishing the visitor experience.
“The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum is a cultural landmark in Boston and I’m proud to support our world-class institutions as they grow,” Menino said. “The new building is designed to complement the historic museum and in itself will be a work of art. This project will help preserve the museum while at the same time ensure that it continues to thrive.”
The use of glass, natural light and transparency in the new entrance and first floor will afford visitors a sense of a museum-at-work as they enter the building. The design has created, for the first time, opportunities to walk through the museum’s greenhouses, to interact with artists-in-residence living on site and to observe educational classes and workshops from the lobby.
The openness of the space has been conceived to encourage lounging, gathering with others, meetings, and conversation. Surrounding the first floor and visible from most areas, newly landscaped gardens are meant to encourage inquiry and exploration. All of this activity will center on preparation and anticipation for entering and experiencing the historic buildings, galleries, courtyard and architecture.
“The Gardner Museum differs from other museums in that it is a work of art in totality—designed by its founder to be a home of the muses, to embrace all the arts using its immense collection as inspiration,” said Anne Hawley, Norma Jean Calderwood director. “Renzo Piano has responded to the museum’s need for functional spaces by creating a conversation with Isabella Gardner’s Museum. His answer is the working home for the arts.”
Architect Renzo Piano added, “We are not trying to compete with the beauty of the palace, but we have to provide some magic. The new building may actually be the tool, the instrument, to save the palace without changing it too much. That this is a fragile creation that cannot survive with its current level of use is one of the conversations we’re having every day. We are talking about an intimate museum that wants to remain intimate.”
The Gardner Museum does not label objects or artwork and has relied upon audio tours, educators and staff to help orient the visitor. In the new wing, visitors will have additional options for orientation in a new space, named the “Living Room” in deference to the domestic nature of the historic building. In the Living Room, visitors will learn about Isabella Stewart Gardner and the history of the museum she founded, the collection, and its unique installation and will browse material about the Gardner Museum’s renowned artists-in-residence program, past and present.
The Gardner’s extension will be constructed entirely on museum property, which encompasses most of the block bordered by The Fenway, Evans Way Park, Palace Road and Tetlow Street in the Fenway Cultural District along Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace park system.
The Gardner Museum enjoys attendance numbers today that Gardner could not have imagined. In Isabella Gardner’s day, the museum welcomed around 2,000 visitors per year to the historic Mmseum building, known as Fenway Court. Today, annual attendance is around 200,000, with about 10,000 attending the musical performances in the Tapestry Room.
The new wing will feature four volumes clad in patinated green copper panels that will “float” above the transparent first floor and echo the green of the gardens. These volumes will accommodate a 300 seat, in-the-round performance hall and a 2,000-square-foot, naturally lit special exhibition gallery. Visitors will circulate through the public spaces via an open central stairway and an elevator located at the building’s core. An adjacent greenhouse structure will feature a landscape classroom, as well as two artist apartments. The new wing will also provide outdoor seating for the café and expanded garden spaces.
The largest of these new spaces, the performance hall, is designed in collaboration with acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics. With seats configured in three balcony levels surrounding the central performing area, the hall will offer sophisticated acoustics while preserving the intimate experience that has long characterized the Gardner Museum’s music program.
Current and enhanced programs and functions that will now be housed in the extension, in purpose-built spaces, include the museum’s renowned music program; special exhibitions; visitor services, such as ticketing, coat check, retail and a café; education and family programs; and state-of-the-art conservation labs, exhibition preparation space and expanded archival and collection storage.
The museum anticipates that the new building will be LEED certified by the United States Green Building Council. Main components of the sustainable design are a geothermal well system, daylight harvesting, water-efficient landscaping techniques and the use of local and regional materials, which reduces the environmental impact associated with transport.

Trespassing
01/11/10 – At approximately 5:29 a.m., officers responded to a radio call for a removal from the French Library, located at 53 Marlborough St.
On arrival, police spoke to the executive director of the library (the witness), who stated that a male suspect on the premises was refusing to leave.
The witness said that a man had entered the library at around 4 p.m. and asked to speak to a member of the French Consulate. The witness said she provided the man with the phone number of the French Consulate and told him that there was no connection between the consulate and the French Library.
At this time, the witness said that the suspect became belligerent and she asked him to leave the building. The witness also stated that she requested that the suspect leave the building numerous times over the next hour before finally calling police.
The suspect told police that he would not leave the library under any circumstances and that he needed to talk to a member of the consulate in private. Officers then reiterated to the suspect that there was no connection between the two institutions, asking him to leave the premises.
The suspect refused to exit the building after the witness instructed him to do so again, and officers informed the suspect that he would be arrested for trespassing.
After exhaustive efforts, the officers peacefully escorted the suspect from the building and transported him to District Four headquarters for booking. The suspect was charged with trespassing.

Larceny – Shoplifting - $200 & Over
01/12/10 – At about 12:25 p.m., officers responded to a radio call for a larceny in progress at Boylston and Dartmouth streets.
Upon arrival, officers learned that a Prudential Center security guard had phoned Transit Police, saying that a suspect had stolen a winter coat from the Oakley store in the mall. The suspect then boarded a bus at Boylston and Clarendon streets but was removed from the vehicle by a Transit Police officer and detained until Boston Police arrived.
The suspect then admitted to officers that he had stolen items from the mall, which were later returned to their respective stores by police. The suspect was charged with shoplifting by concealment and other offenses.

Threats to Do Bodily Harm
01/15/10 – Officers responded to Eastern Mountain Sports, 855 Boylston St., for a radio call for a report of threats.
On arrival, officers spoke with the store manager (the victim), who stated that he had observed two male suspects walking around the store and looking at different items but not buying anything. The victim asked the suspects if they needed assistance, but both refused his help while continuing to act suspiciously.
The victim then requested that the suspects leave the store, if they weren’t going to buy anything. At this time, the suspects allegedly became belligerent and one said, “At some point, you’re going to have to leave the store tonight. I have people that can come back here.”
The victim said he feared for his safety while the suspects left the store in an unknown direction. The victim was advised to contact police if the suspects returned.

Robbery-Unarmed-Business
01/17/10 – At about 3 a.m., officers responded to a radio call for a larceny in progress outside of McGreevey’s Bar at 915 Boylston St.
Officers were told by dispatch that the victim and other bar employees were chasing the suspects towards the area of Kenmore Square.
Police learned that bar employees had caught a suspect on Hereford Street, who was placed under arrest by a responding officer. A bar employee then positively identified the individual in custody as one of the suspects who robbed him outside of the bar.
The bar manager stated the suspect was in possession of a stolen moneybag and bar receipts, but no cash was found. Officers obtained a better description of the other two suspects and searched the area to no avail.
Upon returning to the bar, officers observed a camera in front of McGreevey’s and a Berklee School of Music building next door at 911 Boylston St. Officers were able to obtain a video that showed three suspects running from McGreevey’s in the direction of Hereford Street at the time of the robbery.
While in custody, the suspect who was apprehended admitted to his part in the robbery and provided police with the name of another suspect who allegedly planned the robbery.
Police contacted the second suspect who stated he would return the money to McGreevey’s, but he never did. The information was passed along to D-4 detectives, and the suspect in custody was transported to D-4 headquarters and charged with unarmed robbery.