Last updated on February 22, 2023
Egleston Square Main Street shared some good news recently — it sounds like the city is going to purchase the property of the Egleston Square Peace Garden from Clear Channel and make it into a permanent community park.
In a post on the Egleston Square Main Street website, Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the City address in February, in which Wu said, “We worked alongside residents in Egleston Square and business partners to secure a Community Peace Garden on Washington Street.”
“What this means is both the City of Boston and Clear Channel are now working collaboratively toward the outcome we’ve all been advocating for. A final purchase and transfer of property for open park space takes a long time, but our partners at the City feel positive and excited and are working hard to move the process forward,” said Main Streets’ page.
The property has a long history within the community and Clear Channel. In December 2021, Clear Channel listed the property for sale for $1.1 million. Weeks prior to that, Clear Channel erected a fence around the property, preventing anyone from using the garden and park. A change.org petition was also started to help save the garden.
Community organizations and small businesses cared for the space from 1998-July 2021 without financial support from Clear Channel Outdoor, investing an estimated $1 million of in-kind support and cash towards trash and snow removal, landscaping and gardening, safety improvements, and community programming to deter unsafe use.
The property is located at 3127-3131 Washington St. (corner of Washington and School streets).
Anyone interested in volunteering or wanting to get involved with the Peace Garden, please email eglestonpeacegarden@gmail.com.