Armenian Memorial – Alternative Locations

The Armenian Memorial, a proposed park, would pay homage to the Armenian Genocide that saw the loss of an estimated 1.5 million lives in 1915. The memorial has been on and off in the news mostly for their intention to develop a parcel of the Greenway near Christopher Columbus park as the site of the memorial. Tom Menino has voiced his opinion: no way. He doesn't want the Greenway to become home to a number of memorial sites, rather preserve it as a mixed use swath of green space. Today the Globe reports that the BRA has proposed some alternative sites for the memorial: Charles River parkland on both sides of the river created by the Big Dig, a location in the South Boston waterfront near the Convention Center & Exhibition Center, a spot on a Charlestown pier, a current parking lot on Merrimac and Staniford Streets, and that weird spot between Filene's and TJ Maxx in Downtown Crossing called "shoppers park" that is slated for redevelopment, but currently seems to serve as home to nut roasters and homeless people.

All the alternative locations would provide a location for the Armenian Heritage Memorial Park and keep the park off the Greenway. The problem is, the BRA doesn't actually control all the locations in question and there's no guarantee that they're actually available for this use. Memorials are all over the city with locations don't necessarily have obvious roots. The precariously placed Irish Immigration memorial near State Street/Downtown Crossing and the Holocaust Memorial near Faneuil Hall come to mind. The Armenian Heritage Foundation hasn't commented on the city's latest proposal. If they don't get the Greenway spot they're looking for Bostonist would like to suggest that they also consider locations that are outside of Boston proper. Watertown is currently the home to the Armenian Library and Museum of America, Armenian Cultural and Educational Center, and as the third largest concentration of ethnically Armenian residents in the country - largest in the area. The visibility of a memorial in Watertown wouldn't be as great as some of the high traffic areas proposed within Boston city limits, but it may provide a welcome home to the memorial site.

Image is of an Armenian Genocide Memorial in Armenia – it once was included in Wikipedia but seems now to have been deleted, contentiously. Admittedly the Armenian Genocide is a contentious issue in and of itself.