Improvements to Palmer Street, the alley in Harvard Square, debuted officially Friday. New planters, public art displays, games and more were installed with the goal of making Palmer Street a more inviting public space.
The city worked with the Harvard Square Business Association to make the area more pedestrian friendly while maintaining the ability to use the alley as a loading zone for abutting businesses.
The updates seen opening day include brightly colored chairs, a magnetic poetry wall, games such as cornhole and pingpong, as well as vendor tables promoting the city’s Community Development Department and an energy efficiency program. Squares in the Square, a cover band, performed popular songs at a pop-up beer garden run by Source, a restaurant across Church Street that opened in November, and El Jefe’s Taqueria offered food as well. The temporary beer spot was getting the most attention at the time of a Friday visit.
Artists Bob Smith and Kyoko Ono installed the “Michelle the Blue Elephant” sculpture in late July, adding to public art installations in the alley such as angel wing murals. In a bit of serendipity, Smith was in the area when he ran into Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, who invited him to install “Michelle” on Palmer Street.
The launch is part of the city’s new Public Space Lab initiative. The program “seeks to cultivate inclusive and participatory public spaces,” according to an email from Iram Farooq, assistant city manager for community development. “Other interventions across Cambridge include the CloudHouse temporary shade pavilion in Greene-Rose Heritage Park in the Port and the non-restaurant-affiliated public patios open to all in Inman Square.”
Friday’s Palmer Street debut was the culmination of a February meeting that laid out a $70,000 budget for the project from a Harvard Square Improvement Fund. Ideas sourced from the public at the time ran the gamut from providing new tables and chairs to weatherproofing the alley by installing glass ceilings.
The event solicited more ideas on how to use the space, and the city expects to make more updates. “We view each of the improvements to Palmer Street as experiments that can, over time, be paired with additional efforts toward enhancing the space,” Farooq said. “We expect to monitor the usage of the street as we roll out new improvements.”
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Truly ridiculous. Having been among the many people who attended meetings to discuss possible ideas for this space we were never informed of the results, or even of this purported “opening,” which seems to have been a creature of CDD “staff” and the Business Association. A shocking insult to the public who took the time to participate, but all too typical of the administrative staff in Cambridge who seem to have no clue as to how to truly collaborate with the people who actually live here, or maybe – more tellingly – they could simply care less. Play with our money, then pick up their inflated paychecks. I find this appalling.
I can’t believe we’re losing trees to development to pay for this garbage.
Oh boy, I sure agree with Pro Bono Publico on this. I too was in on the ground floor meetings even researching ownership of Palmer Street. Sad that this is the plan?? Hoping this is some temporary fill in. It looks cluttered and no way does the area justice. The blue elephant?? Can someone educate me on what this symbolizes?? Why it sit son Palmer Street for a grand opening?