Another season of innovation on The Greenway

Written By: Jesse Brackenbury, Executive Director

What unites The Greenway’s contemporary art, Trillium beer garden, new zipline, food trucks, and organic gardens? They are the products of the Greenway Conservancy’s vision for innovation in public space. We want to bring 21st Century ideas to Boston and the Commonwealth.

Meeting House, 2017

The non-profit Conservancy has long sought to bring new, engaging experiences to The Greenway. When we launched our food program for the park in 2010, we wanted something different than hot dogs and pretzels: so we had a solar-powered hot dog cart and Boston’s very first new-wave food truck (Clover at Dewey Square). Well before Wicked Free Wi-Fi, we built one of Massachusetts’ largest free Wi-Fi networks along The Greenway’s 1.5 mile length.

The Conservancy brought a similar mindset in choosing to maintain The Greenway’s lawns and gardens organically. The Greenway is one of the only public parks in the country that is organically maintained. Instead of spraying chemicals, our horticulture staff brews and applies organic compost tea. This leading-edge stewardship makes the park safer (and greener!) for visitors.

The Conservancy’s curation of contemporary public art exhibits has made The Greenway a leading destination. The exhibition of Janet Echelman’s As If It Were Already Here in 2015 was an international draw, and changed the conversation about art in Boston. The Conservancy has won four annual awards in the last five years from Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network for commissioned artworks.

The Z – Boston Zipline

Now, in 2017, we have two ground-breaking offerings for the City: the Trillium Garden on The Greenway and The Z. The Conservancy envisioned a beer garden that would allow Boston to enjoy an amenity common across European cities; to operate the beer garden, we selected the Trillium Brewing Company, a four-year-old Boston brewery recently rated the world’s third best. The Z, our new 220’ zipline, brings immediate fun to a piece of the park that is caught up in a long-term planning process.

All of this illustrates our commitment to a world-class park. Amidst the fountains and Carousel, we promise a park that always has something new and interesting to experience.