User:Andy02124/sandbox/cs

In 1983 the Copley Square Centennial Committee, consisting of representatives of business, civic and residential interests, was formed. They announced a new design competition, funded by a grant of $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The winner, announced in May, 1984, was Dean Abbott of the New York firm Clarke & Rapuano. The park was raised to street-level and a lawn and planting beds were added. The fountain, which had rarely functioned as intended, was re-configured. The updated park was dedicated on June 18, 1989, and received mixed reviews.

By 2021 the park, now heavily used, was again in need of redesign; requirements included alleviating stress on existing trees, adding more trees, making the fountain safer, and prioritizing ease of maintenance. After a series of public meetings, the final proposal by Sasaki Associates was presented to the city in May, 2022.

The block of Dartmouth Street that separates the Boston Public Library and Copley Square is the focus of a city-sponsored pilot program, called Copley Connect, which will close the street from June 7 to June 17, 2022, to explore the possibility of using the area as an occasional plaza. During the pilot, the space will be used for library activities, a farmers market expansion, café seating, food trucks, performances, block parties, outdoor yoga, dance lessons, and more.

Unrealized projects

 * 1874 A surveyor's map shows a "Chemical School, Inst. Tech." (never built) and four house lots on the larger triangle.
 * 1894 A circular, sunken garden combining designs by Rotch & Tilden and Walker and Kimball, ringed with trees and marble balustrades, centered on a small fountain.
 * 1912 A plan by architect Frank Bourne eliminated the Huntington Avenue crossing and sunk the square 2.5 feet below street level. One version featured an enormous monumental column in the center of the plaza.
 * 1914 Landscape architect Arthur Shurtleff envisioned a circle of trees around the Brewer Fountain, which would be moved from Boston Common.
 * 1927 A proposal for a State War Memorial, from plans by Guy Lowell, placed a large, cylindrical granite structure in a basin. The inner chamber rose fifty feet to a domed ceiling and the memorial was topped with bronze representation of Hope.


 * 2012 A juried competition held by SHIFTBoston invited designs for creative illumination. First prize was awarded to the firm Khoury Levit Fong for their conceptual chandelier of LEDs suspended over the square.