October 17, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Two preservation projects on property overseen by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department were recognized with 2011 Preservation Achievement Awards at the annual awards ceremony hosted by the Boston Preservation Alliance at the Paramount Center on October 6.
Boston Common’s Brewer Fountain was awarded top honors in the Rehabilitation by a Public Agency category and the Jamaica Plain Civil War monument received recognition for Maintenance of a Historic Neighborhood Landmark.
The Brewer Fountain project received generous support from Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Capital Improvement Program, the Save America’s Treasures grant program, the Friends of the Public Garden, the Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Fund, and Greg and Dina Selkoe. The Civil War monument was a project of the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund, a trust of the City of Boston.
The Boston Preservation Alliance Preservation Achievement Awards are bestowed annually to honor outstanding achievements in historic preservation and compatible new construction inBoston, as well as individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly toBoston’s historic built environment.
Installed on Boston Common in 1868, Brewer Fountain is the oldest public sculpture in the park. Purchased byBostonmerchant Gardner Brewer after he saw it on display at the Paris Exposition of 1867, the fountain was a bronze casting from the original fountain designed and created by Mathurin Moreau and Alexandre Lambert Leonard at the Maison Barbezat foundry inFrance. The fountain was inaugurated in Boston Common in 1874 and moved to its current location on the Common in the early 1900s.
The Brewer Fountain restoration project included dismantling, restoring, and reassembling the entire fountain. The bronze sculpture and cast iron structure were cleaned and conserved off-site. To ensure the fountain would provide the desired and historic water play effect, a new mechanical system was installed. A new recirculation fountain system conserves water and provides an underground vault for pumps, water filters, and venting. The granite basin surrounding the fountain was cleaned, repaired, and lined with river stones as it had been in the 1800s.
The area around Brewer Fountain is currently being renovated by the Friends of the Public Garden in honor of that organization’s 40th anniversary. When completed in the late fall, the newly landscaped Brewer Plaza’s granite paving, lawns and trees will provide an elegant frame for the restored fountain and an enduring gift to the people ofBoston.
Designed by artist W.W. Lumis and originally dedicated on September 14, 1871, the Jamaica Plain Civil War monument is crowned by a seven-foot granite statue of a Union soldier leaning in on his rifle at guard rest. The Gothic revival style monument features a four-sided marble tablet sheltered by a vaulted arch. Located at the intersection of South and Centre Streets, the memorial was rededicated September 17 after a restoration project that included stabilizing the granite, pagination and coating of the bronze, and painting the black iron fence. Decades of dirt, grime, and staining were removed through the careful cleaning of the granite and marble surfaces. Lead and mortar joints were re-pointed, and bronze finials were also cleaned and buffed.
Contact:
Parks Department
Parks (at) cityofboston (dot) gov
