Development

Activists resurrect an old plan for the Fenway

by Laura A. Siegel

The Fenway Community Development Corporation chose the perfect setting to announce its "Urban Village" plan for the Fenway neighborhood on July 18: the parking lot of a McDonald's, under a sign for ball-game parking, as cars and trucks whizzed by on Boylston Street.

Many Fenway residents would like to see this street -- a strip of parking lots, fast-food joints, gas stations, and auto-repair lots -- transformed into a walkable, bikeable, mixed-use neighborhood, with a community center, two schools, and affordable housing above stores and restaurants.

The idea has been in the works for a decade, but activists revived it last year as an alternative to the Red Sox' plan for a new ballpark on Boylston Street. "Even if the whole ballpark were funded by private money, this is not the place to build it," said City Councilor Chuck Turner, wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt in the hot July sun.

"The Red Sox' plan is at odds with the neighborhood's vision," said Lisa Soli, president of the Fenway CDC, as she and Turner unveiled a drawing of the urban-village plan, which would focus on Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue. "The urban-village plan has always included the ballpark, but right where it is now. We've lived with the ballpark for many years and have seen the kind of uses it attracts. We don't need more baseball caps or bars. We need a hardware store, a school."

Proponents of the urban-village plan, along with Save Fenway Park and the Boston Preservation Alliance, will be holding "A Call to Creativity," a design symposium that will run from August 4 through 13. The symposium will be aimed at developing a comprehensive plan for the ballpark and the Fenway neighborhood. Two architects who specialize in stadium design will lead it, and public meetings will be held each evening. "The symposium is important for arriving at a plan with the support of the Fenway community," said Kimberly Konrad, president of Save Fenway Park and a member of the Urban Village Coalition steering committee.

To learn more about "A Call to Creativity," call the Fenway Community Development Corporation at (617) 267-4637, ext. 23, or e-mail jheiko@fenwaycdc.org.