Boston Common Sustains Damage During Super Bowl Parade

After around 1.5 million people descended on the city on Tuesday, Feb. 5, for the parade to celebrate the New England Patriots victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, the Boston Common was left looking a lot worse for the wear.

The condition of the Boston Common following the Super Bowl Parade on Feb. 5.

“It was the perfect storm,” said Bob Mulcahy, director of park care and capital projects for the Friends of the Public Garden.


The condition of the Boston Common following the Super Bowl Parade on Feb. 5.

 “We’re still in the midst of winter, but it was a beautiful day with 60-degree weather…and the human impact on the soft ground caused a lot of damage in under a five-hour period.”


The condition of the Boston Common following the Super Bowl Parade on Feb. 5.

The Friends had yet to tabulate the cost of the damage to the park, and Mulcahy said despite this toll, the celebration on the Common was otherwise a good-natured affair.

But Mulcahy said the Friends and the city have invested around $7.7 million in the park over the past four years, and with the city now undertaking a Master Plan for the Common, the time is right to consider what impacts future events will have on it.


The condition of the Boston Common following the Super Bowl Parade on Feb. 5.

“The question is how you can make something positive out of this,” he said, adding that the parade was a “great celebration and party for Pats fans from all over New England.”

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