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Hub honors Kennedy matriarch

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

“It is a wonderful way to remember my mother,” Sen. Edward Kennedy told the Irish Echo. “She loved Boston, its history, and its magnificent urban landscape. I can’t think of another honor that better reflects her life and her contributions to the city.”
The ceremony on Monday is part of a series of activities paying tribute to the Kennedy family and Sen. Kennedy in particular. On Tuesday, the clan will gather at Boston Symphony Hall, where Bono of U-2, cellist Yo Yo Ma and John Williams, former conductor of the Boston Pops are slated to perform. The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Dorchester, where the exhibit on JFK’s 1960 campaign is currently on display, will host Kennedy gatherings, and Sen. Kennedy will have a lead role in the Democratic National Convention proceedings throughout the week.
The Greenway is a 27-acre swath of undeveloped land along the waterfront that was overshadowed for decades by Boston’s notorious Central Artery, an elevated highway perpetually congested by traffic that cut right through the city, separating downtown from the harbor. For the last decade the $14 billion Central Artery Project, known as the Big Dig, dismantled the highway, finally opening up the open space that will carry the Kennedy matriarch’s name.
“The Rose Kennedy Greenway is going to remake the City of Boston and will be the Big Dig’s ultimate legacy,” says Turnpike chairman Matthew J. Amorello, whose agency has created a conservancy to raise funds for maintaining and programming the open space. The Greenway will be “an urban oasis that will be enjoyed by the city’s residents, workers and visitors for generations to come,” he said.
Proposals for developing the Greenway range from botanical gardens and cultural centers to parks, visitor centers and harbor-related activities. One of the most exciting ideas is an $8 million proposal to build a Boston Museum to serve as a welcoming center for visitors.
“I think people are stunned when they realize we don’t have a history museum,” project director Anne Emerson told the Boston Globe. Supporters say the museum would connect Boston’s colonial history with the Irish immigrant era and with the more recent high-tech boom, presenting the city in an historical context that is often underappreciated.
The Greenway runs from Chinatown through Boston’s North End, where Rose Fitzgerald (1890-1995) was born at Four Garden Court. Her father, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, served two terms as mayor, and under his leadership Boston was restored as one of the “great seaports of the East Coast,” according to City Hall sources. It was Honey Fitz, named for his melodious singing voice, who glibly uttered “The Celt has surpassed the Puritan” when the Irish finally gained control of local politics in the early 20th century.
Ironically, the demolished highway portion of the Central Artery that made way for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway was named the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway in honor of Rose’s father.
“I think Honey Fitz would not mind,” Sen. Kennedy said. “His highway has been replaced by a truly modern underground highway, clearing the way for a park that is named after his daughter. He would be thinking that the Kennedys are always looking ahead.”

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