Advocacy Group Forms to Save Boston City Hall

2008-05-20 17:40:45 -

- Citizens for City Hall Herbert Gleason, 617-973-9299 hgleason@publicpolicylaw.com A group of concerned citizens today announced the formation of an advocacy group aimed at lobbying to keep Boston City Hall in Government Center. The new group, Citizens for City Hall, supports revitalizing the existing City Hall into a green, state-of-the art public building rather than relocating it to the Marine Industrial Park in South Boston.

"A sustainable revitalization of the existing City Hall could be as innovative today as the original construction was in 1968," said Mark Pasnik, a designer and director of the gallery pinkcomma, which hosted an exhibition last year on rethinking City Hall. "Boston is missing an incredible opportunity to implement a creative and responsible plan that will revitalize the existing structure, while keeping our government offices in the heart of downtown Boston."

Citizens for City Hall today released its "Save City Hall!" manifesto, which outlines key geographic, environmental, financial and cultural reasons why City Hall should be renovated rather than relocated. The group maintains that "the greenest building is the one that already exists," estimating that it would take nearly 100 years to "pay back" the energy that would be used to demolish the existing concrete structure.

"We believe that the civic and cultural aspects of the current building are as important as the environmental considerations," said Herbert Gleason, former corporation counsel for the city of Boston under Mayor Kevin White. "Boston's City Hall belongs on common ground in the historic heart of the city. Our group feels strongly that relocating the city government will disenfranchise Boston's citizenry."

"We recognize that as the needs of government change, City Hall must also change," said Gary Wolf, architect and petitioner to designate City Hall as a Boston Landmark. "But these changes can come in the form of adaptations and interventions that responsibly serve these needs while preserving the identity of this building and the city."

Known all over the world as one of the great works of modern architecture, Boston's City Hall has been the centerpiece of Boston's Government Center since its construction in the 1960's. The result of a legendary international design competition, the monumentally scaled structure was designed to express the functions of government and to welcome citizens in to its open lower levels. Boston City Hall is also considered by many to be the most striking architectural manifestation of Boston's aspirations for mid-century economic rebirth.

"Citizens for City Hall" Urge Against Relocating City Hall to the
Waterfront