The city will sponsor its second virtual meeting on planned improvements to the Public Garden tool house on Wednesday, June 28, at 6 p.m.
Home to both the Public Garden’s facilities and the Swan Boat operations, the 642 square-foot structure is is located in the Public Garden along Charles Street, just north of the Edward Everett Hale monument.
While historic maps dating back as far as 1866 show a structure at that location, the existing tool house was built in 1946 and replaced a women’s comfort station there before it, said Brett Bentson, a principal with the Boston architectural firm Utile, said last November during the first city-sponsored, virtual community briefing on the project.
Sometime between 1946 and 1997, the layout of the tool house was changed, including the removal of restrooms, said Bentson, and in 1997, the north door to the workshop was changed from a double-leaf to the existing garage door-style rollup.
Restoration of the tool house will include replacing its worn slate roof in kind and replacing deteriorating wood elements, including windows, wood cladding, and decorative wood trim – all of which are original to the building’s 1946 construction, said Bentson.
The project is a partnership between the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the city’s Maintenance Department.
Visit boston.gov/tool-house for more information.