Site Visit - 9.14.13

Site Visit – 51 High Street, Boston, MA

Saturday, September 14 2013

2:30pm

Overcast with a light wind from the Northwest

66 degrees Fahrenheit

I arrived at the site at approximately 2:30pm on a Saturday afternoon expecting to see more activity than I did. Most of the foot traffic was focused on the connection between South Station and the Greenway. The open area known as Dewey Square was mostly vacant except for a few homeless people. One woman was drying her clothes on the highway railing in front of the site along Purchase St., there were heavy rains the night before. Walking through Dewey Square I saw mostly tourists carrying maps or using their devices for directions or information. I saw one dog walker utilizing the green space between Summer St. and Congress St. Bicyclists rode mainly through the area with the vehicle traffic, had they stopped there would be no bike racks for them to use. On High St. there was next to no foot traffic aside from the occasional tourist or a security guard watching me take pictures. Vehicle traffic mostly centered near the South Station area and the highway off ramp at Purchase St. The proximity to the airport was obvious with the sounds of jet planes flying over the area at a steady rate. The closeness to the harbor was evident in the sounds of seagulls and the smell of the ocean. The building itself has seen better days. It's an old four story building sandwiched between two taller, modern buildings. Scaffolding covers the ground floor on High St. There is an interesting mix of modern and traditional buildings on this block. It might be worth a try to keep the façade of 51 High St. to continue that dialogue. Closer examination of the façade shows that there is very little to work with. There is a steady breeze blowing up High St. from the northeast to southwest. I’m wondering this breeze a result of the surrounding building configuration or the current weather pattern. In general there is little activity in the area at this time. It will be informative to come back here at a time when there is an event at Dewey Sq. or at the height of the morning rush hour.  

The next mural is scheduled for installation on the ventilation building in Dewey Square. A piece by Matthew Ritchie will replace the current installation by the Brazilian twins Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, known as Os Gemeos.