Trees, statues, benches, and walkways uniquely define the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston, Massachusetts. While the space has a history that connects it to the development of the early city, these features have enabled it to become an essential element of the community, highlighting the kind of engagement rhat can be compelled from an otherwise empty greenspace.
From Boston’s Back Bay to Modern Landmark
Designed in the French boulevard style by Arthur Gilman in 1856, the landmark is a parkway divided in the center by a wide grassy mall that was part of a plan to fill Boston’s Back Bay. The core of Gilman’s plan was to create a straight-line vista beneath a canopy of four rows of elm trees. While the original design for the Mall did not include public art, today it features nine sculptures and memorials.
The first was a sculpture of Alexander Hamilton that appeared in 1865. Pieces dedicated to John Glover, William Lloyd Garrison, Samuel Eliot Morison, Domingo F. Sarmiento and Leif Erickson are just a few of the others located on the Mall, all of which are by different artists and in different styles. The most recent installation hints at a larger evolution of the space though.
Dedicated in 2003, the Boston Women’s Memorial features Abigail Adams Lucy Stone, and Phillis Wheatley. The pieces are lifesized and right on the ground, inviting audiences to interact with them. Instead of standing on her pedestal, each woman is using it, highlighting the evolution of the scape and themes. This evolution is connected to the changes that have defined Commonwealth Avenue Mall to make it an even bigger part of the surrounding community.
In 1970 local community members established the Friends of the Public Garden to improve Boston’s declining parks, including the Mall. Portions of Commonwealth Avenue were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 and additional sections were added to the listing in 2003. Additionally, events like light the trees on the Mall are held every year. These connections highlight what it can mean for a space to compel engagement that makes it an important part of a community.
More Than a Parkway
Parkways divided at the center are a common feature of cities across the world, but the elements that define Commonwealth Avenue Mall showcase how these greenspaces can become so much more. The legacy that the attraction contains has been actively cultivated and celebrated, showcasing what it can mean for others to create and enable this same type of connection that can impact audiences across eras.
