GREENWAY IN LINE FOR EXTRA HUB $$
Plan to become self-sustainable in doubt
A hefty check from the city’s surplus fund could find its way to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, despite repeated vows for the nonprofit organization to become self-sufficient.
Next week, the city council will have a hearing on an order from Mayor Martin J. Walsh that would use some of the proceeds from the Winthrop Square sale to go toward open spaces in the city. The Greenway Conservancy, if the order is approved, would be one of the benefactors. The Greenway would receive $5 million for maintenance in an endowment fund.
Walsh said the endowment funding would be “a part of” The Greenway eventually becoming selffunded.
“The community wanted it,” Walsh said. “Both the city and state have made investments in that Greenway. They have a board and a commission, and this is another step in them becoming self-sustainable.”
He added: “There’s going to be parts that we control and the state controls, obviously, but it is about becoming more self-sustainable and this money investment is to set up an endowment to help them towards that goal.”
The nonprofit declined to answer if or when it had plans to become a self-supported organization, but in a statement, Executive Director Jesse Brackenbury said: “We’re delighted that the state, the city, and property owners along the public park came together in support of The Greenway. With this support, along with support from our private donors, we can continue to serve the community with exceptional management through extensive programming, award-winning public art, and outstanding sustainable park care.”
In 2017, the state inked a 10-year deal with the nonprofit, guaranteeing it would continue to give funding despite yearslong calls to cut off public help.
According to a 2017 990 form, the organization received $2,093,167 in government grants, most of which came from MassDOT, while $3,000 were from a Boston Cultural Council grant to fund “Youth Adventure Days” programming. A spokeswoman for The Greenway said in an email, that the MassDot contributions “are restricted to maintenance, horticulture and capital repairs funding.”
The city also approved a BID, or business-improvement district, in April, which partnered the city, MassDOT, A Better City and the conservancy. The Greenway BID contributes $1.5 million each year to The Greenway with the idea that it will be set up on a path to becoming financially sustainable.
“I don’t think it’s a misuse of public funds,” Greg Sullivan, a former inspector general, and current research director at the Pioneer Institute, said about the proposed maintenance funds from the city. “Rose Kennedy is a beautiful, wonderful attraction for the city. But, it’s a resignation of the original goal to become self-funded.”