Note: This article was published in the Beacon Hill Paper, July 24, 1996.

After years of intermittent complaints about noise, trash and a general disregard for the Esplanade, matters came to a head during the winter and spring when the Metropolitan District Commission announced major plans to expand its summer concert series. The newly scheduled concerts included mass draw events to be sponsored by Oldies station WODS and New Music station WFNX.

Beacon Hill and Back Bay residents and neighborhood organizations were infuriated. After a series of meetings with MDC Commissioner Balfour, the state agency seemed to retreat, paring its schedule by canceling the WFNX concerts. The Boston Phoenix, owner of WFNX, launched an intensive media campaign aimed at Governor Weld. Weld capitulated, flippantly overruling Balfour. Mischaracterizing residents’ concerns, he proclaimed the dispute one of musical tastes and reinstated several of the WFNX concerts.

Now we are in midsummer. How has it been going? Based upon experiences so far, it seems that while Beacon Hill and other neighborhoods may have lost a battle, they appear to be winning the war. Most residents believe this year’s concerts are less intrusive than before. The number of complaints received by my office, as well as by the Beacon Hill Civic Association and Rep. Paul Demakis, are down. This season’s concert series are better managed and more tightly controlled than ever. More critically, the MDC is acting like a good neighbor, trying to minimize noise levels and closing hours and cleaning up after itself.

Much of the credit for this goes to Commissioner Balfour, who sincerely seems to be making good on his commitments to residents to up levels of security and cleanup and to monitor the concerts tightly. Credit is also due to the high visibility of the issue. Governor Weld, now in a tight senatorial race with Senator (and Beacon Hill resident) Kerry, knows that one slip-up by the MDC will make the papers. It’s the kind of publicity he doesn’t need.

Still, there is a lesson in all this: concerted, consistent group action works. As I mentioned, concerns over the Esplanade had been on ongoing issue for years. But the complaints were sporadic and could be — and were — ignored. Galvanized by the expansion of the summer series, residents, civic groups and politicians united forcefully and convincingly. This summer’s improved season is a result of that effort.

Of course, the season isn’t over. The WFNX concerts, for example, don’t begin until August. There also are still an almost overwhelming number of events, seemingly daily, that foreclose other uses of the park land. In addition, I have received occasional complaints about seemingly unscheduled events suddenly occurring on the Esplanade.

Most importantly, the MDC has yet to devise a consistent set of guidelines for future years’ use of the Esplanade and the Hatch Shell. This is a next task before us. After the summer’s season is over, the MDC, in conjunction with users and residents, needs to think long and hard about policies that are meaningful, specific and will be followed in making decisions about individual events and concerts. A failure to do this will result in a repetition of this year’s confrontations.