Outside the Box- a threat to Boston Common

The press has missed how Outside the Box ran roughshod over park rules and the desires of neighbors and park advocates. The Friends of the Public Garden are determined to protect the Common, however. Friends of the Public Garden Message Concerning Outside the Box Event June 27, 2013 Dear Friends, As you know, our work as stewards of Boston's historic first parks includes preserving and enhancing these green treasures to ensure that they remain vibrant public open spaces for generations to come. I am writing to alert you to an imminent nine-day performing arts festival that threatens to cause serious damage to the oldest and largest of our parks, the Boston Common. I want to tell you what we are doing to ensure that appropriate mitigation measures are in place and invite you to help us. The festival is called Outside the Box (OTB). Their website (outsidetheboxboston.org) lists more than 200 events from July 13th to July 21st. All are free and open to the public. Festival organizers estimate that audiences during that period could exceed one million people. OTB is an exciting and commendable concept that we would be pleased to support on a smaller scale. We are troubled, however, by the unprecedented duration, magnitude and intensity for the festival, which far exceeds the provisions of the 1996 Boston Common Management Plan. That plan, developed by the Parks and Recreation Department and supported by the Friends, calls for restricting events on the Common to three consecutive days and scheduling events that anticipate more than 3,000 participants at least two weeks apart. Despite opposition from the Friends and several other environmental and civic groups, the Parks and Recreation Department has granted OTB a permit. In light of this decision, we have shifted our focus from prevention to documentation and mitigation. This week we are touring the Common with Commissioner Pollak and others to photographically document the pre-event condition of key areas so that we can assess any damage that occurs and seek appropriate remediation. While OTB doesn't begin until July 13, staging for OTB and Shakespeare on the Common is already being erected. You can help us by keeping an eye on the Common over the next weeks and reporting anything inappropriate you observe. The City of Boston constituent hotline is 617-635-4500 for calls and 617-505-1898 for text. The Friends email address is info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org. As always, we appreciate your support. Anne Brooke President