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Article clipped from The Boston Globe

noncustomers to use their facilities. The problem is Part urban wilds, part park, waterworks landscape invites By Anthony Flint GLOBE STAFF So much of the success of great places lies in getting people to them, and making them feel secure yet A Sense of Place unscripted once there. And while the official opening ceremony is still months away, the landscape around the new Walter J. Sullivan water purification facility, at the easternmost section of the Fresh Pond reservation in West Cambridge, looks like it will be just that kind of place. The building itself, an $80 million H.H. Richardson-inspired creation by Camp Dresser & McKee, includes a lobby where the public can view the waterworks and gaze out across the reservoir. The floor is a map of Cambridge's underground pipe infrastructure, by artist Mags Haries. When anyone drinks from the fountain by the jogging path outside, a cylinder of water bubbles in the lobby, to show how water is stored using gravity. But interesting innovations are outside, too. The City of Cambridge spent about $15 million on the landscape all around the building, too, for the diverse mix of people who show up every day to bike, stroll, jog, walk dogs or read a book on a bench. The first challenge was making it easier to get there. There are two parking lots for those who drive. Three new signaled pedestrian crossings, the most critical at the Tokyo Restaurant, link the park with the West Cambridge and Alewife residential neighborhoods. The big obstacle, of course, is the four-lane Fresh Pond Parkway, which was itself reconstructed as part of the project. The roadway is as busy as ever, but new sidewalks, sections of lawn and historic lampposts, laid out by TAMS Consultants, Inc., create the sense that pedestrians have a right to be there, too. The color and material of the sidewalk continues across all curb cuts, alerting drivers turning off into gas stations and businesses that they are crossing pedestrian turf, said Cara B. Siederman, transportation program manager for Cambridge. On the reservation side, a new bike path has a different, reddish color, with non-slip lane markings in white, which signal bicyclists' territory without a lot of signage. The bike path is a spur off the popular Minuteman Trail. The heavily used jogging path circling the reservoir, used throughout the day, is being refurbished through the park with yet another material, a crushed composite that provides cushioning for pounding soles. But the jogging path can be used by strollers and bicyclists and dog -walkers as well, making it a nice example of a "social street": it's unregimented in that all parties must be aware of each other, but that's what gives the place a sense of vitality. Indigenous plantings, all-natural furniture and a lower fence protecting the reservoir mark the landscaping adjacent to the waterworks facility, designed by Carol R. Johnson Associates. "It does not have the Burlington Mall look," said deputy city manager Richard Rossi. Unleashed dogs chase tennis balls in the area known as Kingsley Park, but further south, recreated wetlands filter runoff, and efforts are underway to attract songbirds and butterflies. Part urban wilds, part Central Park: a diversity of uses for a diverse mix of users. It took a lot of money and a long time to finish, but the area provides some useful lessons for the public realm at the proposed North Point development in East Cambridge, for example. A subtly designed landscape gets people there safely, and lets them do their own thing. Properly welcomed, an eclectic populace will fill the place with life. A Sense of Place will be an intermittent column in City Weekly. Anthony Flint can be reached by email at flint@globe.com.
Article from 23 Dec 2001The Boston Globe(Boston, MA)
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