By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

The Friends of the Public Garden is working to reduce any damage to the Boston Common an upcoming nine-day festival may cause.

The group, which helps care for the Common, Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, said in a letter to supporters it is concerned about the damage the upcoming Outside the Box Festival could cause on the Common.

“I am writing to alert you to an imminent nine-day performing arts festival that threatens to cause serious damage to the oldest and largest of our parks, the Boston Common,” Anne Brooke, president of the Friends of the Public Garden said in the letter. “I want to tell you what we are doing to ensure that appropriate mitigation measures are in place and invite you to help us.”

The free performing arts festival, slated to start July 12 and run through July 20, will showcase nearly 300 theater, music, and dance performances and events at spots throughout the city, including the Common.

The Friends group also opposed the permitting of the festival by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.

“OTB is an exciting and commendable concept that we would be pleased to support on a smaller scale,” Brooke said. “We are troubled, however, by the unprecedented duration, magnitude and intensity for the festival, which far exceeds the provisions of the 1996 Boston Common Management Plan.”

The management plan, as outlined by Brooke, calls for events on the Common to be restricted to three consecutive days and for events drawing more than 3,000 participants to be scheduled at least two weeks apart.

The group plans this week to tour the Common with Boston Parks Commissioner Antonia Pollak and others to document the condition of certain areas before the event in order to assess any damage that occurs during the event and seek remediation.

The group asked that people report anything inappropriate they observe in the Common to the city's constituent hotline at (617) 635-4500 or text the city's constituent services 617-505-1898 or e-mail the friends group at info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org.

E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.

(Ruth Rieffanaugh / Unbound Visual Arts)

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

They often hide, tucked under a windshield wiper blade, cruelly waiting to show themselves as that poor driver approaches. The mere sight of those bright orange envelopes is enough to ruin the day for many.

But an artist from Allston hopes people will be able to find some beauty in Boston parking tickets.

Ruth Rieffanaugh has used parking tickets – some her own and others she found discarded on the street – to create colorful skyline scenes of Boston and Cambridge.

An exhibit of her work, called "Parking Ticket Blues & Other Rediscovered Uses" will debut at the Massachusetts State House on July 10, according to Unbound Visual Arts, Inc., a nonprofit that is sponsoring the exhibit. A public opening reception is scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

The exhibit, which includes other art she has created using discarded newspapers and other paper materials, will run through July 31, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 34 of the State House.

"After moving to Boston, the artist started receiving several parking tickets and she also found many parking tickets discarded on the streets," said a statement from the sponsoring organization, which Rieffanaugh is a founding member of. "In order to capture her feelings and emotions in her new city, she decided to use the tickets to create things of beauty."

"The parking ticket art as well as her other artwork are about ideas and for Ruth those ideas emerge as enigmatic imagery," the statement added. "Drawn from personal experiences, the work grapples with the very personal yet universally personal – that nameless realm of feelings that blend the passionate and pleasurable, the angst and anguish, the uncertain and unsettled – often evoking a moment in time, a meaningful place, a despairing loss or a sudden discovery."

Rieffanaugh lives in Allston where she also works in her art studio. She also works as the director of the Dorchester Alternative Youth Academy and teaches drawing at Boston Architectural College. She received a masters in art education from Lesley University and a bachelor's in fine arts from the Art Institute of Boston.

"As a group, her paintings reveal uncertainty and barriers for the mind. She challenges the mind to confront those limitations and she presents us with the concepts that 'change is constant' and life 'is what it is.'"

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(Ruth Rieffanaugh / Unbound Visual Arts)

(Ruth Rieffanaugh / Unbound Visual Arts)

(Photo courtesy Elevate Communications)

Former Boston Celtics player Walter McCarty, Back Bay resident Mil Ndwandwe, and Celtics Forward Jared Sullinger volunteer at the Victory Programs’ ReVision Family Home.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

A Back Bay resident joined Boston Celtics players past and present to help improve Victory Programs’ ReVision Family Home.

Mil Ndwandwe, of the Back Bay, joined Celtics legend Walter McCarty and Boston Celtics Forward Jared Sullinger, and more than 90 volunteers from Sun Life Financial to paint and build furniture at the women’s shelter in Dorchester.

The volunteers, participating in Sun Life Financial’s annual Community Care Day, painted the halls and common area, replaced TV stands, made minor repairs, built picnic tables and planter benches, and redecorated with new curtains, wallpaper, and framed photos at the shelter that serves homeless women, their young families, and expectant mothers.

The group also planted trees at the ReVision Urban Farm, the program’s community-based urban agriculture project that provides residents of the home access to affordable and nutritious food.

E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.

(Photo by Isabel Leon/City of Boston)

Liberty Mutual Insurance chairman and CEO David Long, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and the Massachusetts Secretary Of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Liberty Mutual Insurance celebrated the expansion of its home office amid praise from state and city officials for creating jobs and boosting the local economy.

The Boston-based insurance company began work on its new 22-story building at 157 Berkeley Street in October 2010. The $300 million project expanded its Back Bay home office by 590,000 square feet and created 500 construction jobs.

“Given the pace of our economic recovery, it’s hard even for some of us to imagine how really desperate we were in 2010,” said Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki at a ribbon cutting ceremony in the building Friday morning.

Bialecki praised the company for moving forward with the expansion project during the recession and for committing to create to 600 jobs by 2029. The expansion will also bring $70 million in new real estate tax revenue to the city over the next 20 years

“It really gave us all a tremendous boost that we would find a way out of this. And now with the city has come back in a glorious fashion and it’s great to see Liberty Mutual be a part of it,” he said.

The construction project also created a new café, outdoor seating on Stuart Street, and a landscaped plaza on St. James Street.

“We sort of revitalized our neighborhood a little bit,” Liberty Mutual chairman and CEO David Long said. “Already we’re seeing folks of all ages enjoying that. It looks a whole heck of a lot better than the parking lot that used to be there.”

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the expansion’s positive impact on area businesses will be “tremendous.”

“They had so much confidence in the city of Boston, they had so much confidence in their own company that they were willing to invest in this beautiful building,” said Menino, who called on officials and community members to continue to collaborate on all projects.

“We’ve got to work together,” he said. “This is a great city and the only way we’re going to continue improve this city is us working together.”

E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.

Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com

Were these Orange Line passengers tweeting positive thoughts about the MBTA? It could happen.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

The Boston Public Library has unveiled some of its most outstanding, expansive, and renowned holdings as part of its initial Collections of Distinction.

The collections highlight holdings from the library’s more than 22 million items and include an array of books, maps, manuscripts, letters, drawings, and other original works dating back as early as the 10th century.

The 18 collections include topics such as Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts, Maritime Charts and Atlases, and American Civil War 20th Massachusetts Regiment materials. There are also holdings related to Shakespeare, John Adams, and William A. Dwiggins.

“It is our great privilege to house, preserve, and share these unique collections that are at the heart of what makes Boston Public Library a dynamic research institution,” Amy E. Ryan, the library’s president, said in a statement. “Libraries are centers of knowledge, ideas, and opportunity. We encourage and invite the residents of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to engage with these treasures and celebrate the cultural heritage they contain.”

The Boston Public Library, which is one of the five largest research libraries in the United States, identified its Collections of Distinction based on collections’ uniqueness, rarity, and intrinsic value; historical significance; and its relation to the history of Boston, Massachusetts, and their communities among other criteria.

The criteria was established by the library’s subject experts and its Special Collections Committee.

The new Collections of Distinction are given priority in terms of access, acquisition, digitization, and preservation. The library plans to continue to identify additional candidates for Collections of Distinction status.

“Bringing these collections together and to light is a tremendous step forward not only for our organization, but for the communities of learners that Boston Public Library serves,” Jeffrey B. Rudman, chairman of the library’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “These are deep and rich intellectual resources. It is our duty to make them accessible and available to all. We are grateful to the curators, keepers, and digitizers of these collections who work so carefully to maintain the collections’ historical integrity for future generations and identify new ways to share them with the world.”

A list of all 18 Collections of Distinctions is available online.

E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.

(Photo courtesy City of Boston)

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Getting to City Hall might be easier from some Boston residents this summer as the city launches its City Hall on wheels full time.

Starting July 2, the “City Hall to Go” truck will regularly visit neighborhoods on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to provide certain services to residents, and be stationed by request on Fridays and Saturdays at special events, block parties, and street festivals.

The truck will allow residents to pay or dispute parking tickets, request birth, death or marriage certificates, get a dog license, request a residential parking permit, or pay property and excise taxes without travelling to Government Center.

Residents will also be able to sign up for Renew Boston’s home energy audits and weatherization, request raffle applications, and submit claims to the City Clerk.

The city first held a soft launch of the trunk in December.

“The ‘City Hall to Go’ truck makes personal, timely service from the City of Boston possible for a whole new set of constituents,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement. “We are constantly trying to push what appear to be the limits of municipal services. The success of the truck’s earliest visits shows that benefits of City Hall can exist far beyond its walls.”

The repurposed Boston Police Department SWAT vehicle will be open until 7 p.m. on weeknights and 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

The truck will also use social media to determine part of its schedule. On the fourth Tuesday of every month residents can tweet @CityHallToGo to tell the city where they want the truck to go that day. The truck will open at the most requested location at 12:30 p.m.

The city provided the following schedule for its mobile City Hall. It is subject to change and residents can follow @CityHalltoGo on Twitter or call 617-635-4500 for updates.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The MBTA will increase security and police patrols around the system on July 4. As in years past, the T will boost subway service and will not charge fares after a certain point at nighttime, officials announced this week.

“We encourage people coming into the city to celebrate to use the MBTA and ask passengers to expect large amounts of people, and as we do every day we ask people to be aware of their surroundings, and if they see something unusual, report it immediately,” said Joseph F. O'Connor, superintendent-in-chief of the Transit Police Department.

He said, that while security is normally heightened on the holiday and for other large public events around Boston, this year there will be even more patrols than on July 4 in years past, including a “significant amount” of both uniformed and plain-clothes officers throughout the public transit system due to the bombing attacks in the city at the Marathon in April.

“We want people to feel safe,” O’Connor said. “We want to reassure the public for people who may be concerned because of the events that happened at the Marathon and in the week after.”

There will be no special restrictions on what items passengers can carry while riding the T, but O’Connor reminded riders that some items will be prohibited within a secure perimeter that will be established around the Esplanade.

He said random bag inspections, which are performed daily at strategically-chosen parts of the T, will be performed on the holiday. O’Connor also encouraged riders to download the agency’s free smartphone application which allows users to report suspicious activity by sending text and photos directly to Transit Police.

He said that Transit Police will, as they do regularly, work closely with federal, state and city law enforcement throughout the holiday.

The T also plans to institute schedule-related changes similar to what the agency has done on Independence Day in years past.

On Thursday, July 4, fares will not be collected after 9:30 p.m., subway service will run at “rush hour levels” after 2 p.m. and the last outbound commuter rail trains scheduled to leave Boston will delay their departure to allow passengers more time to board after the fireworks display at the Esplanade.

“Customers are urged to take public transportation to and from Fourth of July events and advised to check T-Alerts and mbta.com for the most up-to-date service information during the holiday,” the agency said on its website.

Officials also reminded riders that bicycles are not allowed on any subway lines on July 4. Bikes are also not allowed on inbound commuter rail trains from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on outbound trains after 4 p.m.

Buses will operate on a Sunday schedule. Before 2 p.m., the T’s four subway lines – the Red, Blue, Orange and Green – will operate on a Sunday schedule.

The commuter rail will operate on a Saturday schedule, until the day’s final outbound commuter rail trains, all but one of which will delay their departures from Boston until 11:45 p.m. – about 45 minutes after the city’s fireworks display usually ends. The #1173 to Newburyport is scheduled to depart at 11:15 p.m.

Quincy and Hull boats will run on a weekday schedule. Charlestown boats will operate on a Saturday schedule. Hingham boats will not run.

Passengers who use The RIDE service are asked to check directly with their contractors for specific schedule changes.

For more information, visit the T’s website, www.mbta.com.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

On two upcoming Sundays, traffic will be shut down and parking restricted along one-and-a-half-mile stretches of two busy Boston roadways as part of a yearly initiative that aims to promote healthy, car-free activities and to unite neighbors with area parks.

On July 14, the second annual “Circle the City” will create a car-free corridor along the outbound side of Huntington Avenue, or Route 9, between Belvidere Street and Brigham Circle (Map). The event will cut through or border parts of Mission Hill, the Fenway, Roxbury, the South End and Back Bay.

On Sept. 29, a car-free corridor will be set up along Blue Hill Avenue, between Columbia Road and Dudley Street (Map). The event will cut through or border parts of Roxbury and Dorchester.

The open-streets initiative, sponsored by the City of Boston and a host of local organizations, invites residents and visitors “to reclaim their streets,” which will be temporarily transformed into “paved parks” with a “festival-like atmosphere,” featuring live music and performances, fitness clinics, biking and walking tours, children’s games, hula hooping, roller skating, yoga, aerobics, farmers’ markets, art activities, live music and dance classes.

On both dates, programming will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The events are free to attend.

“I hope our residents will take advantage of the opportunity to walk, bike, skate and play together on car-free streets,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement.

Last summer, the three “Circle the City” events were held. The first at Franklin Park, did not involve street closures. The other two did and were held in Jamaica Plain and along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston. An estimated 6,500 people attended.

“I’m looking forward to a second year of transforming our streets for Boston residents to get out and get active,” Menino added. “Open streets on Huntington and Blue Hill Avenues brings this great, free program to new neighborhoods.

Organizers said cross traffic will be allowed at a “limited number” of points along the stretch of closed roadway. The events are planned “to ensure that people have alternative travel routes,” organizers said.

“Our dates have been researched to account for conflicts with other large Boston events. We are doing our best to meet with neighborhood and business representatives to encourage engagement and ensure all are informed,” organizers said. “Traffic will be monitored so that any traffic impacts can be measured.”

To see a list of traffic and parking restrictions and programming for the July 14 event, click here and here.

A similar list of traffic and parking restrictions for the Sept. 29 event has not yet been released.

“Circle The City is not a parade, nor is it a race,” organizers said. “Rather it is a unique opportunity to safely enjoy the streets and explore new neighborhoods and parks.”

“With ‘Circle The City: Open Streets, Open Parks’ events, Boston joins cities around the world that are creating temporary open space in the heart of urban communities to celebrate the opportunity to get out and active together,” organizers said. “‘Circle The City’ builds community, encourages family fun, supports local business and promotes safe physical activity linking neighborhoods and parks for a healthy, vibrant Boston.”

Partners and sponsors of “Circle the City” include the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness, the Boston Cyclists Union, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, LivableStreets Alliance, Sustainability Guild International, the Fenway Alliance and the Museum of Fine Arts, the Barr Foundation, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Last spring, the America’s Great Outdoors initiative named Circle the City as one of five nationally-selected “2012 Urban Signature Projects,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which, through its New England office, nominated the Boston open streets event for the distinction.

For more information, visit the event website, www.circlethecityboston.org, or Facebook Page. For more information on Open Streets initiatives elsewhere, visit www.openstreetsproject.org.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2013)

In Video: A look at the volunteers behind the Public Garden's Rose Brigade.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

Under the summer’s sweltering sun, a few dedicated souls armed with gardening gloves and clippers are pruning and caring for the roses in the Boston Public Garden.

Part of the all-volunteer "Rose Brigade," which was founded in 1988 by China Altman, members are tasked with the health of the approximate 280 rose plants in the Public Garden.

Now 26 summers later, the group and the roses are still going strong.