The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 20

Tweaty THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1961 Boston Common Garage to Be World's Biggest ft ODBEB DdSTOIJ uaaaa 2 Underground Units to Hold 3000 Grs; Could Be Bomb Shelter i (SM) 3080HB The ceremony which officially dedicated the under-Common garage climaxes agitation for such a project that goes back 40 years. The idea of disturbing the sacrosanct soil of the 327-year-old Common gave Proper Bostonians and others who opposed it for a variety of reasons the willies. f-- '-'Vv I fit -JU. a jiT, i The twin units will comprise There were numerous squab-) the biggest underground ga helps build an uncommon garage! bles at City Hall, on Beacon HilL in various courts. But rage in the world, with capacity for some 3000 cars.

They will occupy most of the entire west end of the Common, be ground was broken, at last, on Mar. 3, I960. tween Boylston and Beacon sts. The structure now open, Now the lit job, except for from an engineering point of minor cleanup, is finished. view, presented several cnai- It represents a triumph for those with the original vision lenges.

Long, sturdy cedar piles, some 4500 in number, were driven down deep below the 41-foot level. to see the possibilities, the gumption and courage to follow it through, and the technical skill and know-how to finish it These serve to "anchor" the garage, preventing it from being thrust out of the ground by the powerful upward force of sub-soil water. Among these is The Founda HIIUM. WWW WlMf Hf4 tion Co. of New York, engi Also helping hold it down is a massive 3 -foot thick con neering and contracting firm.

It held the $7.5 million general contract to build the three- crete mat on which the lower deck rests. level structure. This firm, founded in 1902, has an international reputa tion. It has built more than 4400 projects, amounting to There are five push-bntton elevators for patrons. Each corner has one, plus a stairwell, extending to all three levels.

The fifth "lift" goes only from the bottom deck to the middle one. The latter leads to a "load (Globe Photo by Chu'tes Dixon NEW UNDERGROUND GARAGE at Boston Common opened today, but only for inspection, after dedication ceremonies. Subterranean facility for 1450 automobiles will be opened for business tomorrow morning. Former Mayor John B. Hynes is shown as he spoke at exercises.

more than $1 billion, throughout the world. Among its more recent con tracts, undertaken jointly with another organization, was the foundation for the giant new Chase National Bank sky Common Garage McDonald Father of Garage Idea ing" platform for buses which will transport patrons around the Common and as far as Beacon and Tremont sts. scraper building in Manhattan. It involved going down 71 feet to bedrock. determined historic Boston Temporarily, at least, the Over the years, the idea of garage under the Common aficionado even higher.

2d Half Shelter? Authority has hired from the M.T.A. four new 38-passenger buses and drivers. These will Others of prominence whose has intrigued the imaginations The Foundation Co. has also of many a Bostonian. 1 erected super-structures for operate on 10-minute headways, between 8 a.m.

and Many opposed it, but the real Congratulations to the Massachusetts Parking Authority for the Boston Common Underground Garage another symbol of Boston progress in solving the parking problem. We are proud to have had a part in the construction of this new facility, benefiting motorists and merchants alike. Unmatched in economy, appearance and quality, Grid System Construction is adapt-able to any floor or ceiling plan. Write or call for our 1962 Architectural Catalog. number of big and well-known buildings.

It worked on a re cent big job for the Ohio Edison names cropped up from time to time in the garage venture were: John Fox, financier and publisher of the defunct Boston Post; Bernard Goldfine, whose financial dealings and high-placed political connections have since made news. showdown began about 14 years ago, when the late William J. McDonald came up with What 'Cupcakes' Are ar well as on the Am bassador Bridge at Detroit. io the. sidewalK super specific venture.

(He was Parking Rates The underground garage, if the hopes of the Massachusetts Parking Authority are realized, should get a number of women shoppers. The rates for transient parkers, as recommended by consultant engineers retained by the Authority, are: First hour, 40 cents; second hour, 40 cents; each additional hour, 25 cents. All-day (8 to 6, Monday through Saturday), $1.85. Eight to 6 Sunday and major holidays, $1. Six p.m.-midnight, 6 p.m.-8 a.m., $1.25.

Midnight-8 a 50 cents. For monthly parkers, Monday through Saturday, 6 p.m.-8 and all day Sundays and major holidays, $30. intendents who may have wondered during the con struction, what all those odd credited with developing the Park sq. area.) Also, William F. Callahan, chairman of the Massachusetts His Motor Park, Inc.

pro looking, upside-down "cupcakes' were, there's a simple Turnpike Authority (he was The garage In its present dimensions, big at tt is, actually represents only one-half of the ultimate structure, as planned. The Mass. Parking Authority, its sponsor, plans to go posed a 3500-car garage, to cost named its first chairman, but and answer. $5 million. At that time the Those thousands of forms concept also included a long were used in the making of the reinforced concrete ceilings ahead soon with the other half.

And, if arrangements can tunnel beneath the Public Garden, exiting on Arlington for the toree levels. for one of several accesses. The art actually steel domes, two feet square, supplied by That idea was dropped as GRID FLAT SLAB CORPORATION 7(1 DtidKy SUnl Boston 25. Uus. Originate wn4 PiMMtt Cpltt SYSTIM fttinfafud Cnmta Conilnith'M line 1921 be worked out with Federal civil defense officials, it is possible the second half may be built for conversion to a bomb shelter.

being too costly. In addition, it raised the hackles of many the Grid Flat Slab Corp. of 761 Dudley st, Roxbury. They dropped out); and Frank J. Kelley, former chairman of the Boston Park Dept Callahan and Kelley were the original members named of the authority by former Gov.

Furcolo. The third member was George Lewis Brady, the chairman who has resigned. The other two authority members now are Joseph W. Monahan vice chairman; and James J. Sullivan Jr.

The latter is also chairman of the City of Boston Real Property Board. save concrete, and form a tre mendously strong two-way 520 foot site fell to the firm of Jeremiah Sullivans Sons, gri. Federal Order Some 500,000 square feet of of 175 Brookhne Cam bridge. grid system construction was Will Reduce Some James P. Moroney, vice pres AISLE LANES are painted by! used for the garage, mostly ident and general manager, with wide 36-foot column on Gas Prices Here estimated that the four giant Robert Williams of Hull deck of Common garage.

spans. shovels, each weighmg 65 tons Another important function A Federal Power Commis and with a "bite" of 1 cubic yards, clawed out 260,000 cubic sion order fixing the charges to be made by the Algonquin necessary before concrete could be poured was supplied by the Wexler Construction OWEN J. McCARRAHAN CO. STEEL ERECTORS yards. uas Co.

will result in a reduction in prices Real Big Job This was one of the biggest jobs of its kind in Boston paid by some Massachusetts consumers, according to Roy C. Papalia, chairman of the Department of Public Utilities. almost as big as the Back Bay excavation for Prudential Cen Massachusetts companies 16 PELHAM CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Co. of 118 Needham Newton Highlands; The Wexler firm, according to Pres.

William Kopans, put op the maze of forms for walls, columns and slabs. In doing so, it required the use of about 7000 steel adjustable "shores" for supporting the poured decks, and four carloads of lumber. ter, also by the Sullivan firm. buying gas from Algonquin some zzu.uuu yards was CITY BANK and TRUST CO. 175 Washington Boston Richmond 2-3500 Complete Banking Service "Small enough to know you Large enough to serve you Strong enough to protect you" carted away from the Conv mon, but 35,000 yards of fill had to be saved.

This, together with the top loam layer, was bulldozed back atop the concrete roof of the garage. will receive about $2,300,000 as a repayment under the new schedule. "As soon as the details of the repayment are received," said the D.P.U. chairman, "we will issue orders specifying the methods and for what period the amounts received shall be utilized to reduce the monthly or bi-monthly charges to customers." The tremendous job of ex cavating the loam, gravel, blue For the enormous quantity of poured concrete, 4500 tons clay and peat from the 300 by of reinforced steel was placed by the Owen J. McGarrahan Co.

of 16 Pelham Cam bridge, steel erectors. We are proud to have participated in the construction of the BOSTON COMMON UNDERGROUND GARAGE This firm also set more than 140 hollow steel pipe, 16 inches in diameter, into the center of many of the supporting concrete posts. Some of these were 24 feet long. The McGarrahan crew, num bering at times 40 men, also erected the structural steel for the four kiosks. Four New Kiosks Sole Change in Common Scene The gently rolling slope of Boston Common near Charles st will look like its old self next Spring with the exception of four protruding kiosks.

The latter will house pushbutton elevators and stairwells for patrons of the underground garage, and are at its four corners. As the Parking Authority promised when it undertook the job, the grass and any shrubbery or trees that were removed for construction will be replaced. Some 8500 cubic yards of rich black loam were stored on the side near Boylston st, and this will go back, in a blanket averaging 18 inches thick. Grass seeding will not be started until early Spring. Pres.

Owen J. McGarrahan paid special tribute to James Norris, general supervisor of reinforcing steel erection; his brother, Joseph, the job foreman; and Eugene Donovan, supervisor of structural steel erection. CONGRATULATIONS to the Massachusetts Parking Authority on the opening of THE BOSTON COMMON UNDEGROUND GARAGE The "watchdog" over the James Norris Superintendent Reinforcing Division Eugene Donovan Superintendent Structural Division giant undertaking was the con sulting engineering firm of Muzzillo and Tizian. Frank W. Kiernan, a partner in the firm, plus a resident engineer for his concern kept sharp eyes on all phases from the inception, ngm up to riDDon-cuttmg.

Kiernan and his assistant ap proved all items of construe tion, watched over the setting of the structural steel, the pouring of concrete, the installation of utility wires and ducts, and so on. 0 vf v. 1 mum Tizmti His firm recently was chosen engineering consultants for the enormous, $100 million rv Madison sq. complex in mid Manhattan. Construction Engineers i This project will embrace a giant sports stadium, hotels EXLER ana an office building about 03 stones high.

OFFICES Robert Kennedy's Shelter Planning Waits U.S. Policy PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 17 (AP) Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy, brother of the President, has no family fallout shelter.

At a newi conference last night, he said he plans no shelter until a Federal policy is established leading toward shelters for everyone. -Until then" he sial 4Tm NEW YORK, N.Y. STAMFORD, CONN. BOSTON, MASS. NEWARK, NJ.

SAN JUAN, P.R. ROME, ITALY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY General Contractors Engineers 118 Needham Newton Highlands, Mass. going to wait".