In our latest “Building Boston” segment, project manager with Boston Parks & Rec B Chatfield walks us through the renovation that’s in the works at the heart of Boston’s Back Bay.
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Copley Square — one of Boston's most beloved public spaces — is getting a major facelift, the likes of which haven't been seen in nearly four decades.
The city is in the process of renovating Copley Square Park, a complex project seeking to make the Back Bay plaza "even more human," according to project manager B Chatfield, with upgrades that still maintain what people have loved about Copley for decades.
Improvements to the park will include updates to the fountain, new lawn and planting areas, an elevated seating area called the Raise Grove, lighting and updated pathways and plaza space, according to the city.
The project is expected to be done by the end of the year. The project's budget is nearly $17 million.
"It’s a square that people feel a lot of connection about," Chatfield said. "It serves as a neighborhood park as well as a citywide destination. And so, trying to get an understanding of how the site is used by protestors and marchers and where big events are set up, versus what happens on a daily basis with people coming out of the Hancock Tower.
"I think the designers worked a longtime to try and accommodate those scales of activities," she continued.
Chatfield said that the last time Copley Square Park got an update this significant was in the 1980s.
"It echoed a lot of those lines of trees and rectilinear layout," Chatfield said. "It's not exactly historic. It’s always playing nice with the historic fabric around it. And we figured we would continue to play nice but respond a little bit more — I think better — to human use and trying to make this a space where people could make their own.
"And what we’re doing now, we’re increasing the planting areas, so making it softer in that regard and I think we’re still pushing it in that direction of making it even more human," she continued.
You can watch Chatfield discuss the Copley Square Park renovations in the video at the top of this story.
The city provides more information about the project on this webpage.
