By Dan Murphy
A favorite destination in the Fenway for those in the know, Ramler Park celebrates its 20th annual anniversary this month.
Located at 130 Peterborough St., the one-half acre Dorothy & David Ramler Park sits behind a decorative metal fence adorned with birds, which was created by local artist, John Tagiuri. A raised lawn, with an operational fountain, occupies the center of the park, adjacent to a pergola. Ample benches and additional seating for visitors are located throughout park, which boasts a vast array of nearly 30 different varieties of trees, along with more than 30 unique types of shrubs and vines.
“I can’t tell you what’s in here – it’s a whole lot of stuff,” Freddie Veikley, one of the founding board members of the nonprofit Friends of Ramler Park, told this reporter during a recent visit to the park. ‘Native perennials’ can also be found there in abundance, she said.
The origins of Ramler Park date back to 1990, when David Ramler, a successful businessman and property owner in the Fenway, offered to donate the Peterborough Street land to the City of Boston for a public park in appreciation to the neighborhood. The parcel had served as a parking lot sporadically over the years but was lying dormant at the time. Ramler died before the property transfer could be completed, however, but his children continued to pursue his gift.
Years passed, and the future of the parcel was in something of a state of purgatory until then-Mayor Thomas Menino visited the Fenway in response to a fire in the neighborhood in the late 1990s.
Ed Burke, a one-time city employee and longtime Fenway resident who died last year, urged his wife, Freddie Veikley, to wrangle Mayor Menino and urge him to consider the future Ramler Park.
“Menino was very helpful. He really got it going and broke the log jam,” said Veikley, a longstanding Fenway Civic board member who would go on to become one of the founding board members of the nonprofit Friends of Ramler Park. But Burke “is the reason this park exists today,” she said.
Spurred on by Veikley, Menino named Ramler Park as one of the first acquisitions in his newly created “Open Space Acquisition Policy.”
On Aug. 28, 1999, Mayor Menino and Parks Commissioner Justine Liff joined Fenway neighbors and friends in a celebration, which marked the gift of land to the Boston Parks Department, along with the launch of the Friends of Ramler Park Capital Campaign.
The Friends then began fundraising in earnest, first for planning purposes and then to match to the city’s capital allocation for capital construction. Many involved in the development of the park pitched in pro bono, including the attorneys.
“The whole idea behind the park is really idealism, peppered in with a whole lot of work,” said Veikley. “So many people care for this park as it were their own.”
The project also directly benefited from contributions from a number of developers as many major projects were then getting underway in the neighborhood.
Samuels & Associates has been particularly generous when it comes to supporting the park, said Veikley, and the Boston-based developer helped the Friends establish a trust fund with the city for its ongoing maintenance.
Elena Saporta, Landscape Architect was eventually awarded the design contract and then worked in concert with the city and the Friends to develop the project’s design.
Saporta herself regularly attends concerts in the park and takes photos of the performances. “Her heart is still in the park we created,” said Veikley.
Likewise, Eric Wendland, the original contractor, is always only a phone call away, said Veikley, as he continues to troubleshoot and winterize the fountain.
On Aug. 10, 2004, Ramler Park opened to the public, and soon afterwards, the Friends began sponsoring jazz and classical concerts there.
“The pergola was built as a bit of a performance venue,” said Veikley.
While the Friends group continues to hold about two or three well-attended live music performances in the park each summer, ‘Swingin’ in the Fens’ – an annual free concert presented by Berklee College of Music in partnership with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s ParkARTS program – has consistently been the biggest event at Ramler Park, typically drawing around 100 attendees.
“The focus of the park isn’t the programming; it’s an adjunct and it enriches the park,” said Veikley. “The park’s [biggest asset] is that a lot don’t know it’s here.”
One persistent joke among Ramler Park regulars is don’t tell your friends about it, according to Veikley.
“It’s inspirational and off the beaten track and an ideal place to be when you want to escape [city life],” she added.. “I call this the other Fenway Park.”
Despite being located only one block away from Boylston Street, Ramler Park offers a quiet place of respite, but it has also been the venue for numerous weddings over the years. If more popular wedding destinations like the Public Garden or the Kelleher Rose Garden are already reserved on the desired day, the city will often direct couples seeking wedding permits to Ramler Park, said Veikley.
Robert and Christina Kaitz were married in the park on Aug. 15, 2020, after their original plans were scuttled due to the pandemic.
The couple, who were then Fenway residents, had originally planned on getting hitched that May outside the New England Aquarium. A couple of weeks ahead of the planned nuptials, their caterer notified them that the ceremony would be subject to extreme restrictions.
Per the caterer, guests would have to remain seated through the ceremony, which, according to Robert, would’ve amounted to the guests seated beneath a tent and essentially watching the couple tie the knot on a video screen.
With little time left to find an alternate venue, Christina mentioned Ramler Park, which the couple knew from living in the neighborhood.
Robert, a Framingham native, also lived on Peterborough Street, directly across from the park, when he first moved to Boston in 2008.
Meanwhile, Christina reached out to the city and was able to secure a wedding date at Ramler Park after paying a nominal fee. The wedding was filled to its 40-person capacity per the city’s regulations for the event.
“Ramler Park is a nice, quiet area, It’s a nice contrast to the rest of Fenway, which has so much activity and energy. If you want to sit outside and read a book quietly, it provides that type of venue,” said Robert.
Likewise, Boston Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods said in a phone interview: “I love Ramler Park. It’s one of those places you just stumble upon, but once you go inside, you see how well planted, well maintained, and just serene it is. You can sit down and just be at peace, and this park would not be as welcoming and safe, if it weren’t for the Friends of Ramler Park.”
Woods added, “Our parks are better when we have partnerships, and we truly value the support of the Friends of Ramler Park.”
Today, Veikley and a small core of key Friends work in partnership with the Boston Parks Department to care for the park per the group’s original arrangement with the city.
Now ‘well into her 70s’ by her own admission, Veikley is hoping that the next generation will now get involved and eventually assume the reins of the Friends group.
“Our board recognizes that the next generation of park protectors will be essential to its continued care,” Veikley wrote in an email to this reporter. “We will be looking to enlist new members to the board who want to invest time and energy to oversee a thriving ecosystem and to understand the business of nonprofit management. Training provided! A tall volunteer order, but a healthy and beautiful park is its reward.”
Kathy McBride, another founding board member of the Friends group and a Fenway resident since 1989, echoed this open call for new recruits.
“We have different challenges now has the park has matured; it takes more management and ongoing, consistent care,” McBride told this reporter in a phone interview. “The mature tress require a lot of care. It’s such an asset now that requires a lot of maintenance, and we need others to get involved to preserve this asset. It’s only there because of volunteerism, and it will only survive if people step up now.”
She added: “I most want people to realize this place I love was originated by a generous gift from David Ramler, and from then on, it’s been just all volunteer, which is amazing. Twenty years of volunteerism is a fantastic outcome.”
McBride point to the fact that only one random act of vandalism has been reported in the park in its now first 20 years of existence as a testament to just how much people care about this space.
“It’s mind-blowing, the unity it seems to have brought,” she said. “There’s a real kind of pride of place. You see it at concerts, and with people having lunch and choosing to meet there.”
Today, Ramler Park is something of a private oasis for many of its regular visitors.
“It’s definitely a destination for people who know it’s there. It’s like ‘our place,’” said McBride.
Visit friendsoframlerpark.org learn more about, get involved with, or contribute to the Friends of Ramler Park.