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State considers whether to let Children's Hospital build over garden

The Boston Business Journal reports on a hearing by the Department of Public Health on Children's proposal for a $1-billion expansion that would include building atop what is now Prouty Garden:

Advocates for the Prouty Garden, which included several Children’s doctors, protested against any plans that would supplant the space, citing the ashes of children who died that have been scattered in the garden or parents who brought their children there for healing.

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Comments

Childrens is claiming they're going to build out other green space to replace it, but having seen the proposed roof deck it looks cold, windy, unshaded and sterile. A great place for doctors and staff to duck up and have lunch, maybe, but far from a green space. And having been in hospitals with smaller, isolated green areas like the ones supposedly replacing the Prouty.... it's no replacement. They're too small and you still can hear and smell and see the hospital happening around you, there's no opportunity to disconnect and have some calm, private moments that help heal and sustain you.

I understand the pressures Childrens is under here in terms of clinical space but the Prouty is literally irreplaceable and I wish they'd at least admit it instead of pretending it's going to be replaced properly.

I also wonder how effectively they're using their current space -- our hospital has a ton of space set aside for offices for people who could work from home every day, as shown by the fact the hospital was shut for a week and a good number of people's jobs continued uninterrupted. If they're literally full up of clinical that's one thing but how muchHR, records, insurance processing, contracting, acquisitions, etc, etc, is taking up space that at the least could be in a location not smack in the middle of Longwood.

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It comes down to money. There's a huge amount of money spent on neonatal care. Meanwhile, the garden generates no revenue.

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Maybe they can get Harvard to share their large open area in front of the Medical school on Longwood, its huge.

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Prouty is a serene space unlike the HMS quad. Children go there for respite and sadly for a pleasant place in their final moments. A lot of children go there to die calmly in peace and thats not something which can be assigned a dollar value.

Childrens is a major landbanking hospital. They have plenty of parking garages, lots, and office space held in semi secret by shell corporations which could be redeveloped.

This move is motivated by greed and not patient care. They do not want to spend the money to build upward elsewhere when this hallowed land is considered vacant by heartless money grubbing scrooges.

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Prouty is a serene space unlike the HMS quad. Children go there for respite and sadly for a pleasant place in their final moments. A lot of children go there to die calmly in peace and thats not something which can be assigned a dollar value.

Childrens is a major landbanking hospital. They have plenty of parking garages, lots, and office space held in semi secret by shell corporations which could be redeveloped.

This move is motivated by greed and not patient care. They do not want to spend the money to build upward elsewhere when this hallowed land is considered vacant by heartless money grubbing scrooges.

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as a 'green space'? I don't refer to my home as housing unit.

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Children's which IS a fine hospital, had a very slick presentation, aided by the advice of the retired head of the Dept. of Needs. Children's wants to expand to serve more sick children while gliding over the facts that they want to compete with their neighbors for neonates and for international patients who demand cushier amenities. They also omitted the fact that they could build elsewhere on their campus without razing Prouty Garden. And they failed to say that they already have, without permission, started to cut down bushes and trees. A large crowd presented heartfelt testimony about the healing impact of the garden with its sky, air, birds, animals, trees and private spaces that cannot be replaced or replicated by the proposed rooftop garden. Even aged Dr T. Berry Brazelton came with his walker to defend the garden. Once bulldozed, gone forever. I'm

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When you say "without permission" - Who actually owns this bit of land?

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The hospital owns the land but only because they were bequeathed it -- and the document which granted it to them, (from Ms. Prouty, ergo the name) specified that Childrens could only maintain ownership provided they maintained the garden in perpetuity. They can't actually legally tear it up but money is talking.

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That's the one thing that none of the news articles is mentioning... Seems an important caveat...

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The garden is protected land at the state level for being s gift of the Prouty family. Hence the hearing.

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