The Boston Herald
June 20, 2008 Friday
ALL EDITIONS

Pike to OK Armenian Genocide memorial

By CASEY ROSS

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority today is expected to end a
long-running dispute over a downtown greenway parcel that will soon
host a memorial recognizing victims of the Armenian genocide.

Pike officials said they expect the agency’s directors to approve an
agreement with the Armenian Heritage Foundation that could allow
construction of the park to begin by year’s end.

“This is going to be an amazing addition to the Rose Fitzgerald
Kennedy Greenway,” said state Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham), who
has advocated for the memorial. “It’s something that people from
Boston and around the world will come and visit, a place they’ll
treasure.”

The inclusion of the genocide memorial has been a source of heated
debate for years, with city planners raising concerns about
politicizing the greenway with a bevy of monuments and memorials to
various historical causes.

But the agreement to be reached today creates a memorial sculpture
that recognizes the contributions of all immigrant groups and makes
special mention of the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I.

The proposed wording on the sculpture reads, in part: “Boston and the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts have offered hope and refuge for
immigrants seeking to begin new lives. . . . The sculpture is offered
in honor of the one and one-half million victims of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923.

“May it stand in remembrance of all genocides that have followed, and
celebrate the diversity of the communities that have re-formed in the
safety of these shores.”

The park, which is near Christopher Columbus Park in the North End,
will include a labyrinth of grass and granite stone with a single jet
of water at its center. It will also feature a 16-foot-diameter
reflecting pool.