As Lawn on D opens, its future is a mystery
The Lawn on D opened for its second season on Friday, kicking off a weekend-long celebration that includes performances from Berklee bands, new exhibits from ArtLAB’s WonderLAND, activities from the Boston Children’s Museum and food from Lincoln Tavern in South Boston. It’s a monstrous event, but modest in comparison to what the space has planned all summer long.
Despite such success in its first year, a booming lineup for this season, and short-term goals that are impressive to say the least, Lawn on D’s future remains uncertain beyond October.
Launched last August, Lawn on D was built with two goals in mind: to turn an otherwise rarely used gravel plot into something nicer, and to create a pleasant space for the hotels going up across the street from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
“We felt like there was a real lack of open space like the Lawn on D in Boston, and especially in the Seaport District,’’ says Katie Hauser, director of communications at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which owns the Lawn on D. “We had an opportunity to do something special and think outside the box.’’
In the following three months, the space saw performances from the likes of Aimee Mann, the addition of several art installations, an endless stream of food trucks, and 30,000 visitors. “We learned [in the first year] just how much a demand there was for a place like this,’’ says Hauser. “It was successful beyond our expectations.’’
This success has led the Lawn to experiment more than ever before. This summer, they’re teaming up with Bowery Boston and other organizations to host bigger music acts at the venue. Already, the 3,000 capacity space has sold-out shows from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and Boston’s own Passion Pit on the calendar. In addition, the Lawn plans to host Pentalum, a giant inflatable maze exhibit, Porchfest, which riffs on the popular Somerville event and supports local music, and yes, plenty more food trucks.
But beyond this summer, the future of Lawn on D remains to be written. The space was originally set to be “open for approximately 18 months beginning [last] August,’’ according to the Lawn’s website This plan is on hold, however, as the BCEC has had to put a pause on its expansion.
In January, shortly after Governor Charlie Baker took office, The Boston Globe wrote that, “Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore prudently ordered a delay in the $1 billion bond offering for the expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.’’ This delay means, among many things for the Convention Center, that it will not be able to move forward and build into the space which Lawn on D currently occupies until further notice.
“Obviously with the pause of the expansion, the silver lining is that the Lawn on D may have a longer life than we anticipated,’’ says Hauser. “But we’re still hopeful that the expansion will happen. The good news is that the Lawn on D has been so successful that we will definitely include outdoor space into any future expansion of the [Convention Center].’’
For now, the original 18-month projection is meaningless as long as the Convention Center project is on hold. There is no timeframe for a decision on the project, but the Convention Center has new board members who are meeting for the first time this week to discuss the matter. Rest assured, delay or no delay, the space will remain an experiment that the Seaport embraces.
Lawn on D is now open for its 2015 season. It is free to the public seven days a week for art, relaxation, and outdoor work space. The space is also available to host private events, and plans to host a busy schedule of public and free events all summer long.
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