Published in the Back Bay Courant, April 14, 1998

I'm getting tired of all of these front-page articles heralding the latest proposal to remake Fenway Park.

The last twelve months have seen a succession of news articles floating ideas about what should be done with the park. The pattern of each is similar. On day one, a front-page, full-color story appears, replete with architectural renderings. The rest of the day is spent fielding calls from panicked residents, fans and reporters wondering what is going on.

The next day carries a smaller, "never-mind" kind of article noting that the Red Sox themselves deny that this was their idea in the first place.

From residents' point of view, the whole matter is unnerving. Most Fenway residents know that something will, someday, happen to Fenway Park. They also know that whatever happens will affect their lives and their property considerably. They therefore, quite reasonably, want to see a planning process that includes them from day one.

Public announcements in newspapers are not the way to do this. (I suspect, by the way, that the Red Sox agree and shares residents' frustration with the front-page approach.)

The Fenway is a considerably different community than it was when the Park was built in 19xx. Over the last xx years, a vibrant residential community has emerged. The last few years have seen even more changes, as the once-ignored neighborhood has become suddenly fashionable. With the imminent redevelopment of the old Sears warehouse and plans afoot for new rental housing construction, it seems likely that the Fenway's status as a desirable residential community will be even further enhanced.

But as the neighborhood has grown up, its relationship with Fenway Park has often been troubled. Many fans of baseball are not fans of the trash, congestion and occasional rowdy fans that often accompany home games. It is a burden that no other neighborhood in Boston has to bear. Indeed, it is a burden that some neighborhoods, such as South Boston, have made clear they would not ever want to bear.

To be successful, any redevelopment of Fenway Park is going to have to do two things. First, it's going to have to clean up the messes that the games create. That means that traffic needs to be kept off residential streets, that litter needs to be tackled aggressively and that police are out controlling those few fans who think it fun to trash a neighborhood.

Second, it's going to have to respect the residential character of the neighborhood and integrate itself more with the entire Fenway. Now the park is set off distinctly from the rest of the Fenway, almost as if it were an island. Those walls need to come down.

I happen to believe that both goals are achievable. Examples of such success abound — Boston College, for example, expanded its Alumni Stadium while at the same time decreasing traffic and trash in the area.

So how does all of this get accomplished? The right way is for the Red Sox to sit down with Fenway residents well in advance of plans being drawn. Listen to residents. Get a sense of what the community is about, what the community fears and what the community wants. Then use that information to develop some preliminary proposals. After that, continue to work with the neighborhood as the ideas are refined and made final.

I have seen huge proposals, most notably the redevelopment of the Sears building, go through a process like this and emerge as better projects that had widespread community support. It would be nice to see a similar process develop a plan that both respects the Fenway and saves Fenway Park.