The Friends of the Public Garden will unveil the newly restored Child Fountain in the Public Garden at a public ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 11:30 a.m., at the park’s Arlington Street Gate.
The newly restored Child Fountain in the Public garden is seen ahead of its Sept. 17 ribbon-cutting.
Following the conclusion of this approximately year-long project – one of three major initiatives undertaken for the Friends’ 50th anniversary in 2021 – the area around the “Boy and Bird” by Bashka Paeff and “Small Child” by Mary E. Moore sculptures will again be accessible to the public. Key upgrades the area include the installation of new water-circulation systems, which will allow the fountains to flow again in a sustainable manner. A leveled plaza and a shallower basin also now surround each fountain, along with redesigned granite surrounds. New benches and lighting have also been added to the area.
“We are so excited to be welcoming the public back into a transformed Arlington Street entrance to enjoy the restored child fountains, relax and take in the view from the new benches, and enjoy the revitalized border bed plantings,” said Liz Vizza, president of the Friends of the Public Garden, which works in partnership with the city to maintain and enhance the Public Garden, as well as the Boston Common and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. “We are grateful to the many community members who contributed to the Friends to make this vision a reality.”
Vizza will be joined at the ribbon-cutting ceremony by Boston Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods, among other speakers at the event.