The Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s mission of protecting the City of Boston park system’s storied legacy while embracing sustainability for future generations has been recognized with a pair of awards in historic preservation and climate resiliency.
The Boston Preservation Alliance recently announced that the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial on Boston Common is one of six 2022 Preservation Award recipients that will be recognized at their 34th Annual Preservation Achievement Awards ceremony being held October 20 at the historic Charles River Speedway Complex in Brighton.
A ceremony was held on Boston Common June 1 as the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial was rededicated after a comprehensive $2.8 million restoration project undertaken by a partnership including the Friends of the Public Garden, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the National Park Service, and the Museum of African American History. The scope of work included restoration of the bronze relief and surrounding stone, reinforcement and seismic protections, and plaza improvements to increase accessibility and access to the monument.
Considered one of the preeminent works of public art in the country, the Memorial honors the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first Black regiments to serve in the Civil War, and its white colonel, Robert Gould Shaw. As dramatized in the 1989 film “Glory,” the 54th served most notably at the Battle of Fort Wagner in South Carolina. News of their courage and determination on the battlefield spread and led to other Black regiments being formed, and by the end of the war 10% of the Union Army was made up of Black soldiers.
In 1865, Black businessman Joshua Benton Smith called for a memorial to be constructed in Boston and in 1883 artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens was commissioned. Dedicated to perfection, Saint-Gaudens did not complete the sculpture until 1897. By the late 20th century the Memorial was in extremely poor condition due to corrosion and vandalism. In 1981, the Friends of the Public Garden led a campaign for the monument’s restoration and to establish an endowment for its care. That partnership continues today with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the National Park Service, and the Museum of African American History to ensure the memorial is properly preserved and maintained in order to enlighten and educate generations to come.
A second distinction was announced on June 16 when the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC) shared that the Parks Department’s Langone Park/Puopolo Playground renewal project on the waterfront in the North End was the recipient of the 2022 EBC Award for Climate Change Project of the Year.
The park is the first in the city designed with climate resilient features embedded throughout to protect the shoreline, the neighborhood, and other public assets from projected sea level rise and increased storm events. In collaboration with Climate Ready Boston and other city agencies and stakeholders, the Parks Department built an integrated seawall internal to the park with overlooks and seating on an elevated boardwalk.