The words “utility box” and “canvas” don’t often go together, but in Harvard Square they now do.
This spring, local artists working with the Harvard Square Business Association gave makeovers to 12 utility boxes. The boxes used to come in two shades: black and graffiti’d. Now they’re the colors of the rainbow — and then some. Impressionistic sunflowers, spray-painted sunsets, and abstract splatters are among the designs that decorate the boxes.
This March, b.good was forced to shutter its Harvard Square restaurant to make way for renovations to Harvard’s Smith Campus Center. After nearly 10 years of operating the locally-sourced burger eatery next door to his alma mater, b.good’s co-founder Anthony S. Ackil ’99 said the neighborhood he left behind is markedly different from the one he remembers as an undergraduate. “When I was [at Harvard], there was not a lot of national chains and now, all of Harvard Square is a national chain,” Ackil said.
As students prepare to welcome the Class of 2020 on campus for Visitas, Harvard’s weekend for its admitted students, local businesses are likewise gearing up for their arrival. The Office of Admissions expects over 1,300 prospective freshmen to attend the weekend-long program, which will feature over one hundred events organized by the College.
Start your day with a scientifically superior cup of coffee at Darwin’s , 1629 Cambridge Street, where the special brewing system captures pour-over taste without the wait. Get one of the famous breakfast sandwiches, too – Harvard students are known to inhale them – and you’ll be energized for a day of art.
Opening a jewelry store in Harvard Square not only fulfilled Esmeralda Lambert’s dream of running her own business, but also created jobs for artisans from her home country of the Dominican Republic. Lambert’s store, “Esmeralda,” opened at 54 Church St. in Cambridge in October. Raised in a family of entrepreneurs, 32-year-old Lambert said she always knew she wanted to start a company. As a jewelry designer, Lambert didn’t want her store to only feature her own products, but rather showcase a variety of artists.
A small crowd donned “I love toilets” stickers for the grand opening of a new public restroom in General MacArthur Park at the convergence of Church Street and Massachusetts Avenue on Friday.
And that was the least uncomfortable part of the experience.
The prospect of answering nature’s call in public under normal circumstances is stressful enough, but doing so just steps from dozens of curious gawkers with their phones out is slightly more daunting. That’s the situation I found myself in on Friday afternoon in Harvard Square for the grand unveiling of the city of Cambridge’s first freestanding public toilet.
Cambridge dedicates first stand-alone public toilet for busy Harvard Square
After irregular updates about its construction over the past year, Cambridge’s first free public toilet is now open for doing one’s business. About 60 city residents, workers, and officials gathered Friday in General MacArthur Park to inaugurate the permanent outdoor water closet just outside the gates of Harvard Yard.
This project has been completed. No further updates to this project page will be made.
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