Armenian Foundation Gets the Final Go-ahead for Greenway Park Project

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The park’s central sculpture is a 12-sided geometrical shape. The dodecagon will be built so that it can be reconfigured every year, a symbol of how immigrant communities are reshaped once they establish themselves in America, Kalustian said.

“It’s very subtle,” he said. “It’s not kind of in your face.”

Kalustian said the design committee wanted a space that could be appreciated on different levels: a calming, lush park with a reflecting pool; an interesting piece of sculpture; and a memorial to remember victims of genocide.

“This is our community’s way of saying thank you to the state,” Kalustian said.

The conservancy that will eventually maintain the Greenway, though initially opposed to the park, is no longer resisting.

“This is going to happen,” said Peter Meade, chairman of the conservancy’s board. “It’s clearly coming. The Turnpike Authority has approved it, so we’d be foolish not to welcome the Armenian community and congratulate them on the work they’ve done. And clearly, the Armenian Genocide has very important lessons
for everybody on this earth.”

Rob Tuchmann, cochairman of the mayor’s completion task force on the Greenway, said he would like to see more details from the Armenian Heritage Foundation. “We just haven’t seen anything or heard from them in months,” Tuchmann said. Still, his group is no longer resisting the park.

Meade said the conservancy has received dozens of other proposals to recognize historical events on the Greenway, but will not have time to evaluate them in the near term. “Frankly, it’s something at some point we’ll have to look at,” he said.

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