Lighting Landmarks: CHLS Gate & Sumner Statue ($45,000)

Broadway & Ellery Street, Harvard Square-MacArthur Park

Effective light design for Cambridge landmarks can make our city as livable at night as in the day. Well-designed lighting would enhance these landmarks and increase public safety.

CHLS Gate:

The Cambridge High & Latin School gate commemorates the original school and currently marks the entrance of Joan Lorentz Park immediately in front of the Cambridge Public Library. Lighting would enhance the neighborhood ambiance as well as public safety. This is a heavily trafficked pedestrian area and  the library is often open until 9 PM. The corner where the gate is located is quite dark at night.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Rindge_and_Latin_School

History of the arch, from Wikipedia: “In 1977, Cambridge High & Latin and the Rindge School of Technical Arts and were merged into Cambridge Rindge and Latin, or CRLS. The old Cambridge High & Latin building was demolished in 1980, but the old granite lintel and doorway framehave been put in place at the corner of Ellery Street and Broadway as a commemorative archway, leading into the grassy fields of Joan Lorentz Park.”

Ideally the lighting design for this site should highlight the historical landmark and create a welcome ambiance for onlookers.From a practical point of view, the design should  be easy to maintain, environmentally sound, and resistant to vandalism or weather damage.

Charles Sumner Statue:

Charles Sumner was an academic lawyer, senator, politician, and was the head of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts. The Charles Sumner statue is in prime commercial, tourist, and traffic intersection between the lanes of Massachusetts Avenue with Harvard Yard on one side and the Old Burying Ground on the other. The historical origins of the statue are mentioned in online guidebooks and documents.

In addition to lighting the statue, it was proposed that the additional area (“the Island” in which the statue is located) also be lighted. Lighting of the island (in addition to the Statue) was brought to the Committee’s attention based on safety/security reasons as well since that area is very dark and it receives a heavy volume of foot traffic.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8ATA_Charles_Sumner_Cambridge_MA

Ideally the lighting design for this site should highlight the historical landmark and create a welcome ambiance for onlookers.From a practical point of view, the design should  be easy to maintain, environmentally sound, and resistant to vandalism or weather damage.

http://www.lighting.philips.com/b-dam/b2b-li/en_AA/Applications/masthead-pdfs/Architecture-Landscape-brochure-LR-spread.pdf

The City’s cost estimate of $45,000 ($25,000 for the CHLS gate and $20,000 for the Sumner statue and island) includes a lighting consultant's fee to design the lighting project. The design team will try to minimize glare concerns for abutters; this can also be mitigated by shields that direct the light only to the object to be illuminated.