Committee To Pick Firm To Handle City Hall Plaza Redesign Plan
BOSTON (CBS) -- City Hall's design selection committee has interviewed several architectural firms hoping to work with the city on the redesign of City Hall Plaza.
A committee of city and Boston Redevelopment Authority employees met with four firms about possible plans for the plaza during a public information session on Tuesday morning.
The city has tried to revitalize the space in recent months with events like the Front Lawn party in July.
In March, Mayor Marty Walsh launched a Twitter campaign where people could submit their own ideas.
Gary Hildebrand, with the firm Utile, says there can be real change at the site.
"It just has to be part of everyday life where people touch government and government reaches people," he says.
Michael LeBlanc, also of Utile, says there is tremendous potential with that space.
"I'm absolutely excited about it," he said. "The plaza and City Hall itself have the opportunity to be the living room of the city."
LeBlanc says City Hall "while much maligned, is an example of high intellectual architecture...but it needs help."
During their presentation, a Utile official said planners need to think about a low-cost component of programming that's always going on.
A Utile official says "There's no reason why this couldn't be the greenest building in Boston," according to a tweet from WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens.
The official also said the building is "hugely inefficient and (a) wasteful amount of public space" inside, when the plaza is directly outside.
The design committee is expected to vote on the firm they want to work with in the future by the end of the day Tuesday.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens Reports