BLC denies petition to landmark Prouty Garden

LMA—The Boston Landmarks Commission has rejected a petition by a group called Save the Prouty Garden to landmark the garden on the Boston Children’s Hospital campus, which is slated to be replaced by a new clinical tower.

Melina Schuler, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, said that the BLC voted 7-1 to deny landmark status to the Prouty Garden during a meeting on April 28.

BCH did not respond to a request for comment. Save the Prouty Garden group did not respond to a request for comment sent to an email listed on its website.

Save the Prouty Garden website states that its mission is “simple: to save the Prouty Garden from demolition.” For more information about the group, visit saveprouty.org. A member of the group is also in charge of a Change.org petition with more than 10,000 signatures also seeking to save the garden.

BCH plans to replace the Prouty Garden and the 55 Shattuck St. building with a new clinical building at the corner of Shattuck Street and Meadow Lane on its main campus.

The new space would include the creation of the Bader Garden, which would be an indoor/outdoor space next to the clinical building. A three-level, year-round garden would also be built as part of the project, along with a spiritual and meditation space on the top floor of the clinical building. A rooftop terrace for patients would be included with the project.

According to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society website, the garden was a gift from Olive Higgins Prouty, a local author, and opened in 1956. It is described as a “small pocket garden” and as a “quiet oasis” located behind BCH’s main building. The garden, designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape firm, is modeled after the terrace and garden at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.