Amidst The Church of Christ Scientist's plans to monetize the stark but grand moonscape of the Mother Church complex with its famous reflecting pool, the City has designated the site an historic landmark, meaning "church leaders will need the commission’s approval on any reconfigurations to the complex’s landscaping, pavement, masonry, doors and windows, or any new additions."

HA! Take that Motha Church!

The site represents a rare still – but far from static — space in our bustling little city, and plans to chop the reflecting pool — the element that makes the plaza truly monumental — in two has stirred the ire of, well, just about everybody, it seems.

The Church has proposed a crosswalk that would divide the reflecting pool, "so that," according to a spokeswoman for the church, "people will not have to go all the way around.’’ 


I don't think I'd have so much of a problem with a crosswalk, if there was really something on the other side to get to.  What's the urgency?  Choose a side to stroll on and live with it.  Christ.

It really is a little gratuitous if you know the complex, as I do — I ride or walk through it daily, all year round.  While the crosswalk is an historical echo of a crossing that originally led from Huntington to the Mother Church, that stretch of Huntington is no longer a gateway to anything, really, except the Midtown Motel.  In fact, it's now impassible by pedestrians because of an exit ramp for the Mass Ave. underpass.  Clearly, the crosswalk would not serve the purpose of the original crossing as a connection to the South End. 

There are other issues you'd really have to be an engineer or an architect to understand the repercussions of — they've also proposed shallowing the pool from its current 26 inches to six to twelve, and there is some question as to how that would impact reflectivity on this particular site, for example — but I think historic designation ultimately allows for a deeper discussion and a better understanding of the issues involved in the proposed changes to what is a beloved public space, even if it is privately owned.