2010-12-06 Battle Green Draft Master Plan

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Ô»¨·²¹¬±² Þ¿¬¬´» Ù®»»² ß®»¿ Ü®¿º¬ Ó¿¬»® Ð´¿² ïîñêñîðïð ×²¬®±¼«½¬·±² Located at the physical and spiritual heart of Lexington, the Battle Green serves as both town common and national shrine. Events in 1775 transformed this meeting house green from commonly held pasture and muster ground to battleground and graveyard, catapulting its importance from a physical space to a national shrine. This green space is more than a public park, it is a landscape imbued with symbols of patriotism and the national ideals that were born here. As such, it is a sacred and spiritual space, reflecting the cultural values that shaped a nation. Residents of Lexington understand the special significance of the Battle Green. Each community member can relate the moment when they were moved by the symbolism of what happened here. Yet their daily lives move in and around this special space as casually as in any other Massachusetts community. The Battle Green continues its role as a town common, though its significance requires a higher standard of care and scrutiny to ensure respect for the events that occurred here. Lexington is founded on a call to community action. As such, its long tradition of an ommunity that cares deeply about its public spaces, and the rights of individuals to shape its policies and standards. To this end, this master plan has been developed as a product of its citizenry and their opinions about both the physical appearance of the Battle Green and its long-term governance. Today the Battle Green is a compilation of walks, plantings, greensward and monuments, blended in a complicated web of buildings and streets that define Lexington center. Monuments and memorial markers from 1799 to the present spring up through the greensward. The surrounding buildings serve as house museums, visitor center, family homes, local churches, town library and public hall. Tourist buses and visitor cars pulse along the streets which edge the Battle Green, slowing frustrated citizens driving the course of their daily lives. It is this ebb and flow of daily life in Lexington which remains consistent throughout its history, though its pace has quickened with its rising population. This was a New England community founded on farming, family and church not unlike other Massachusetts towns when the events of 1775 changed the course of history and brought Lexington from obscurity to national focus. As part of a state-wide town commons grant initiative, Walter Cudnohufsky Associates (2001) prepared a series of recommendations based on a charrette designed to gather and focus citizen opinions about the Battle Green. In the years that followed, citizen-led interest groups continued the process of developing a Master Plan for the Battle Green. New signs were proposed for the Battle Green and many extraneous street and safety signs were removed. Monuments in Ye Olde Burying Ground have been conserved, and conservation of monuments on the Battle Green is proposed for 2011. In 2009 and 2010 a citizen-led working group created a survey and gathered data and comments at multiple Ð¿¬ Ü»·¹² ÔÔÝ Ð¿¹» ë