News

Up in smoke

by Michele D.  Maniscalco
Thursday Mar 24, 2016

Careless disposal of smoking material caused a fire on Saturday night that destroyed the light installation that brightened the fountain in Blackstone Square throughout the winter, according to a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department (BFD). The sculpture, which consisted of tinsel and multi-colored lights on a metal frame fashioned to emulate the flow of water from the fountain, was erected in December along with colored lights affixed to the trees, with a similar light display in Franklin Square.

The two colorful exhibits delighted many South End denizens and gave a greater feeling of security with the added light in the parks at night. Ironically, the Blackstone and Franklin Square installations were due to come down by Sunday, March 20, but fire cut short the life of the popular Blackstone Square display. The installations were created by Fort Point artist Nate Swain and were sponsored jointly by the Blackstone/Franklin Square Neighborhood Association (B/FSNA) and Washington Gateway Main Street (WGMS) at a cost of approximately $7,000.


Boston Police Department (BPD) spokesperson Rachel McGuire reported that officers from District 4 and an arson investigator from the BFD responded to a 911 call from a neighbor who had heard a loud bang that seemed to be coming from the square around 12:15 AM on Saturday night. Other neighbors as well as this reporter also confirmed hearing one or two loud booms at that time. Swain had been in Blackstone Square taking pictures of his creation at approximately 11:30 that evening but did not notice anything amiss with the sculpture.

BFD spokesperson Steve MacDonald said, "They had taken down part of the sculpture, but the base of the fountain was dry and loaded with cigarette butts." Swain said the BFD told him that a discarded cigarette or cigar is thought to have ignited the installation's wooden base in the bottom of the fountain and traveled up, destroying the light display atop the fountain. The value of the Blackstone Square fountain sculpture was $4,500.

Commenting on the sculpture's premature demise, B/FSNA president Eric Huang commented, "It's unfortunate that the sculpture met an unfortunate end, just as it was scheduled to come down for spring. But the installation accomplished its mission, which was to get people to look up and around, linger in the parks and feel a bit safer, and to provide some color through the long nights of winter. We are looking forward to warmer months ahead and experimenting with new ideas to light the parks."

Jennifer Effron, executive director of the installation's co-sponsor, WGMS, said, "We were sad to hear that one of the sculptures was destroyed, especially after the positive response the installation received in the neighborhood. We are relieved that no one was hurt and that the fountains are also undamaged. We were excited to bring public art to the neighborhood and look forward to collaborating with B/FSNA and other organizations and residents on future projects."

Artist Swain, a landscape architect by training, waxed philosophical about the sculpture's unexpected end. "Once you install public art, it has a voice of its own and you never know what is going to happen. I've been to Burning Man before and they burn the artwork on the last day to signify that nothing is permanent. The fact that [the light sculpture] burned on the last day was an interesting experience. It was surreal."