GREENWAY PARK TO REMEMBER GENOCIDE HORROR
Noah Bierman
Boston Globe
June 26 2008
MA
Armenian foundation gets final go-ahead for project
After eight years of debate, the Armenian Heritage Foundation has
cleared the final major hurdle in its effort to transform a prime space
on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway into a park that commemorates
the victims of the Armenian genocide.
To win over detractors, who opposed using the Greenway for memorials,
the designers have planned a subtle and universal sculpture that pays
homage to the general immigrant experience while recognizing the 1.5
million Armenians who died between 1915 and 1923 in the genocide. A
plaque on the central sculpture praises Boston and Massachusetts for
offering "hope and refuge for immigrants seeking to begin new lives"
and offers the park as a gift from the Armenian-American community.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority granted final approval last week,
meaning that construction can begin this year, near Faneuil Hall, and
the park could open next summer, though no timeline has been set. The
Armenian Heritage Foundation is raising all the money for construction
and upkeep, as well as for a related human-rights lecture series,
estimated to cost a total of $4.5 to $5 million. The park will be
four-tenths of an acre.
"To have a place in such a prominent area is so moving to our people,"
said state Representative Peter Koutoujian, an Armenian-American whose
grandparents fled the genocide. Koutoujian has advocated a memorial
since 2000.
The Greenway has been more than 15 years in the making, with extensive
planning meetings progressing while the city of Boston was torn up
during the Big Dig. Many planners and community members have long
held that the strip of parks above the highway tunnels should be free
of memorials, to avoid becoming a collection of monuments like those
dotting The National Mall in Washington, D.C.
In 2006, Mayor Thomas M. Menino called the Armenian proposal, which
was supported by the Turnpike Authority, "a dangerous precedent."
"We could have 44 out there," Menino said at the time.
Others supported a five-year moratorium on monuments to give planners
time to create a vetting process.
Menino declined several interview requests for this article. His
spokeswoman, Dorothy Joyce, said Menino has always supported an
Armenian memorial somewhere in the city and now backs the Greenway
location because the foundation has demonstrated community support
through a public process.
State and Turnpike Authority officials have long supported the
Armenian proposal, in large part because the foundation had agreed
to pay for it. "At a time that we’re looking for private resources
to share public obligations, it’s hard for us to say no to a gift,"
said Jeff Mullan, undersecretary for transportation. Mullan said
support from local residents was also important in gaining Governor
Deval Patrick’s support.
Under the deal approved last week, the Turnpike Authority will
oversee the construction, using a public bidding process, and
the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy will monitor
maintenance. The Armenian Heritage Foundation will reimburse the
authority for construction costs and establish a $500,000 endowment
for upkeep. The foundation will also set aside $500,000 to endow the
lecture series on human rights.
James K. Kalustian, the foundation’s president, said his group has
raised enough money to build and maintain the park, but is seeking
more in hopes of building a larger endowment.
The park’s central sculpture is a 12-sided geometrical shape. . The
dodecagon will be built so that it can be reconfigured every year,
a symbol of how immigrant communities are reshaped once they establish
themselves in America, Kalustian said.
"It’s very subtle," he said. "It’s not kind of in your face."
Kalustian said the design committee wanted a space that could be
appreciated on different levels: a calming, lush park with a reflecting
pool; an interesting piece of sculpture; and a memorial to remember
victims of genocide.
"This is our community’s way of saying thank you to the state,"
Kalustian said.
The conservancy that will eventually maintain the Greenway, though
initially opposed to the park, is no longer resisting.
"This is going to happen," said Peter Meade, chairman of the
conservancy’s board. "It’s clearly coming. The Turnpike Authority
has approved it, so we’d be foolish not to welcome the Armenian
community and congratulate them on the work they’ve done. And clearly,
the Armenian genocide has very important lessons for everybody on
this earth."
Rob Tuchmann, cochairman of the mayor’s completion task force on the
Greenway, said he would like to see more details from the Armenian
Heritage Foundation. "We just haven’t seen anything or heard from them
in months," Tuchmann said. Still, his group is no longer resisting
the park.
Meade said the conservancy has received dozens of other proposals to
recognize historical events on the Greenway, but will not have time
to evaluate them in the near term. "Frankly, it’s something at some
point we’ll have to look at," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
