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Neighborhood Celebrates City’s Acquisition of Egleston Square Peace Garden

Community members came together on Saturday to celebrate the city’s purchase of the Egleston Square Peace Garden, ending several years of emotional ups and downs for the garden and community.

Mayor Michelle Wu and community members came together to celebrate the city’s purchase of the Egleston Square Peace Garden on October 19, 2024.

“The peace garden is the heart of Egleston Square, that’s the only green space we have in this neighborhood,” said Rosana Rivera, who has been helping run the peace garden for many years. “I’m proud that the city of Boston saw fit to preserve our neighborhood and give us a garden that all of the community may enjoy now and for future generations.”

Founded in 1998 by high school students, the Egleston Square Peace Garden was transformed from a vacant lot into a memorial for young people who had lost their lives to violence. For 20 years, neighbors, business owners, and community members maintained the space and utilized the garden for community gatherings including concerts, cookouts, and cleanups.

The celebration comes after the city purchased the parcel for $300,000 supported by Community Preservation Act funds. The city purchased the parcel at 3129 Washington St., from Clear Channel Outdoor, which had a permitted billboard since 1980 at the site, and leased the space below to the Ecumenical Social Action Committee (ESAC Boston) for free until 2018.

Clear Channel’s lease for ESAC expired in 2018, and despite neighborhood organizations, business owners, and community members, asking for a renewed lease, the property was fenced in and listed for sale in December 2021 for $1.1 million. For several years local advocates and the city worked to purchase the property.

In 2023, Wu announced in her State of the City Address that the city would acquire the land to steward and care for the park as an official city park.

Egleston Square Peace Garden is now owned by the city.

“Community members turned this vacant lot into a vibrant space, now we’re proud to preserve this space for the residents who helped transform it,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I’m thankful to Friends of Egleston Square Peace Garden, Egleston Square Main Streets, and all who helped advocate to make sure this area had a place they could call their own.”

In August of this year the billboard was taken down and the chain link fence, which had surrounded the site since 2021, was removed.

Following a site assessment and clean-up, the Boston Parks & Recreation Department is planning to host community design meetings to develop a new vision for the park in collaboration with its founders and stewards.

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