Photo Credit: Courtesy Boston Parks and Recreation Department
Boston has a long tradition of re-using historic structures—converting churches into housing, fire stations into theaters, woolen-industry warehouses into artist spaces, and many more.
Given its place as steward of one of the first public park systems in the U.S., the Boston Parks and Recreation Department is in a challenging position when it comes to the use of historic buildings within its 2,600 acres of parks, playgrounds, urban wilds, and cemeteries. With strong protections for parkland in Massachusetts and Boston, opportunities for expansion or new building construction are rare. In the last 15 years, two facilities were constructed within the park system: the Boston Common Frog Pond skating rink and wading pool in 1997, and a new golf clubhouse at Franklin Park in 1998.
Because of the challenge of working within an established park system, the parks department constantly looks into the possibility of recycling existing buildings that have fallen into disuse and/or disrepair. Following the model of a successful Massachusetts Historic Curatorship Program encouraging renovation and adaptive re-use of historic structures in state parks, two buildings were identified in recent years: the former men’s comfort station on Boston Common, and the Duck House on Agassiz Road in the Back Bay Fens—both restroom facilities.