No Ticket Booths in Copley Square Park

Boston is home to a number of cultural and architectural treasures. Their maintenance and appropriate use are crucial to preserving the Boston-Cambridge mystique which makes the area such a desirable place to live, work and yes, go to school. So in the interests of preserving this mystique, we think that a recent proposal to place a ticket booth in Boston's historic Copley Square Park is a misguided one. Not only would it be an inappropriate structure for the park, but there is no shortage of commercial locations.

The proposal comes from Arts/Boston, a non-profit group which runs the current Bostix ticket booth next to Faneuil Hall. Arts/Boston provides an admirable service by selling tickets to cultural events in Boston at half-price on the day of the performance. We support the idea of an additional booth in the Back Bay--but in an alternative site.

The proposed location of the kiosk in Copley Square Park at the corner of Dartmouth and Boylston Streets would violate the integrity of the recently-renovated and still fragile Copley Square Park. Copley Square is home to the historic Trinity Church (designed by H.H. Richardson, who also designed Harvard's Sever Hall) and McKim, Mead and White's magnificent Boston Public Library. These buildings constitute an important part of Boston's architectural and cultural heritage.

The Copley Square Park is a haven in the city. It is the site of a number of seasonal activities including concerts in the summer, transient book fairs and a farmers' market. The proposed 12-foot-by-12-foot structure will interrupt the vista between the Boston Public Library and the Trinity Church. Long lines of patrons will also detract from the park's appeal.

Arts/Boston's intransigence in refusing to even consider other locations implies that there are no other possible locations for the kiosk. Yet, the Friends of Copley Square Park, a civic group comprised of area residents and local business representatives which opposes the location of the kiosk, has indicated that it would support a proposal which places the kiosk at the corner of Dartmouth and Newbury Streets. Another location which could accommodate a free-standing kiosk is the wide sidewalk outside the Prudential Center Complex and the Hynes Convention Center. The hordes of out-of-towners who patronize the Convention Center would no doubt constitute an important segment of Bostix' clientele.

Those of us who go to school at Harvard know what it is to have our urban environment destroyed. Anyone who must pass by the shudder-inducing sign trumpeting the Shops by Harvard Yard on a daily basis needs no reminding about the necessity of preserving and enhancing our surroundings in appropriate ways.

So we urge the Boston Parks Department to reject Arts/Boston's proposal at today's hearing.