Celebrating the recent unveiling of the new Bulfinch Triangle logo are: (from left) Lori Moretti, logo designer and president of CM Communications; Robert B. O’Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association; and Karyn B. McFarland, president of the Downtown North Association.
It is geometrically correct, of course, but a logo made for Boston’s Bulfinch Triangle goes deeper than basic shapes.
“We really want to brand the Bulfinch Triangle as a new urban destination,” contributor Robert B. O’Brien said last week of the colorful icon created to publicize the area encompassing Causeway, Merrimac and North Washington streets. While stressing that Charles Bulfinch’s legacy remains a top selling point of a neighborhood conceived nearly two centuries ago as America’s first professional architect and city planner, O’Brien said the marketing effort is also trumpeting the district’s modern aspects, including a vast nightlife fomented by the nearby TD Banknorth Garden and surrounding North Station. Aided by zoning changes and increasing desire for city dwelling, residential options are on the rise in the Bulfinch Triangle, said O’Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association. The logo’s three-pronged message that one can “live.work.play.” in the district strives to underscore the vibrancy available there in the new millennium, he explained.
“We don’t want this to be your father’s historic district,” said O’Brien, a notion seconded by Downtown North President Karyn B. McFarland. Member brainstorming sessions yielded a plan to project a “hip, edgy” image, she said. Expected construction of nearly 1 million square feet of retail, residential and office space on five acres left behind by the depression of the Central Artery and Green Line viaducts should keep the neighborhood as a “work in progress” for the next few years, said O’Brien, and that aspect also is conveyed in the marketing program.
Designed by CM Communications President Lori Moretti, the logo features a large blue triangle as the “A” in “Bulfinch Triangle.” Rough edges reflect the evolving nature of the district, according to O’Brien, who praised both CM and fellow Downtown North Association member Solomon McCown & Co. for helping craft the delicate marketing program that seeks to venerate the historic flavor of the area while championing its future promise.
‘Collaborative Effort’
In many ways, the Bulfinch Triangle does exemplify the rapid-fire changes occurring in downtown Boston along the mile-long swath that was the Central Artery. When the elevated structures were finally removed last year after darkening the North Station streetscape for decades, the results were immediate, recalled McFarland, a commercial real estate broker whose firm is based in North Station. “People were completely disoriented,” she said. “They didn’t know where they were.”
But while sunshine and open space were immediate perks, O’Brien said the wear-and-tear from decades of disinvestment also shone through, leading his organization to redouble its efforts. The Downtown North Association has been planning for the dismantling of the Central Artery and Green Line for more than 15 years, but O’Brien said the actual demolition showed that additional steps will be required to attract people regularly. Fortunately for the area, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s novel Crossroads Initiative will begin a $4 million restoration of Causeway Street beginning next summer. Developed by planner Ken Greenberg, the Crossroads Initiative will invigorate 15 major roadways intersecting with the Rose Kennedy Greenway emerging along the depressed artery from Causeway Street to Kneeland Street near South Station.
As some have suggested, O’Brien said he also believes the extensive preparation by his group and others throughout North Station helped get Causeway Street in the opening salvo of the Crossroads Initiative, with members having met for years to ensure design-and-use guidelines were in place to allow development of the area to commence once the artery came down. “We haven’t been sitting still,” O’Brien acknowledged, who has participated in such efforts as the Boston 2000 Working Group, the Downtown North Area Planning Initiative and the subsequent Bulfinch Triangle Development Advisory Committee.
The Downtown North Association is not stopping at Causeway Street, however, with the group lobbying for public funds left over from the Democratic National Convention held in Boston last summer to make further refinements. The surplus monies would be matched up against $100,000 being raised privately to upgrade other thoroughfares along the Bulfinch Triangle, providing new lighting, street furniture, plantings and trash receptacles. Many landlords in the area have restored their properties, according to O’Brien, but he concurred that the district continues to suffer from litter and other forms of blight at the street level. To correct the situation, Downtown North members have agreed to maintain the area once the physical improvements are completed, including using the talents of one local firm that trains and employs those challenged by physical or emotional issues.
O’Brien praised such agencies as the BRA, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority for working closely in the North Station area to prepare the surplus land for designation to developers. “It has been a collaborative effort from the beginning,” he said. A new YMCA is already in the planning stages, as is a supermarket and several other projects that will add retail needed to support residential lifestyles. McFarland credited O’Brien’s “vision” and doggedness to stay on top of the North Station infrastructure changes, adding that she is also amazed that the district is finally reaping the rewards of the artery and Green Line projects. “What’s so exciting is to be a part of permanent change,” she said. “For years, we talked about what could happen, but now it actually is happening Â… It’s finally real.”
