![\"Janet](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4VB54KEX24YIEJLDTFBAPJ4G5U.jpg\")
Janet Marie Smith surveyed the scene of the off-season construction at Fenway Park in 2006.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nHer innovation should have earned her a spot in Cooperstown. Her Oriole hard hat is there, but the National Baseball Hall of Fame has only inducted one woman, Negro League civil rights leader Effa Manley.<\/p>\n
Her talent isn\u2019t limited to the diamond. Smith, who studied design at Mississippi State, also updated Battery Park City in Manhattan and the Baltimore waterfront. <\/p>\n
Janet Marie Smith surveyed the scene of the off-season construction at Fenway Park in 2006.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
The Globe has asked her to critique Boston City Hall Plaza, opened in 1967 to acclaim. But the notorious Brutalist-style building at the center of the plaza is also considered by the public as \u201cthe most hated building\u201d in Boston. Even the $95 million makeover of the plaza completed in 2022 gets mixed reviews.<\/p>\n
City Hall Plaza has been the setting for a range of experiences, from the glorious celebrations of sports championships to the dark moments of the city\u2019s busing crisis. In 1976, Black civil rights activist Theodore Landsmark was physically attacked, and a man lunged at him with an American flag on the plaza.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s where Larry Bird famously went off script during a 1981 Celtics championship rally and declared that Philadelphia 76ers Moses Malone \u201cdoes eat (expletive).\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith is diplomatic when discussing the plaza\u2019s look. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sensitive to mucking in other people\u2019s projects uninvited,\u201d she says. But last Wednesday evening, she trained her designer\u2019s eye on the seven-acre site. <\/p>\n
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Aris Apollos, waiting for a train while resting outside of City Hall Plaza, is not a fan of the architecture.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have made great strides,\u201d she says on a walk-around the plaza. Her report is a mix of \u201cthe good, the bad, and the ugly,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
On a gorgeous summer night, visitors are quick to offer Smith their take of the brick-and-concrete government center. <\/p>\n
\u201cOh, it\u2019s ugly as hell,\u201d says Aris Apollos of Concord. \u201cI\u2019m being completely honest. It looks just like a prison. I think they should change it to look more human, less incarcerating.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Smith smiles. Being from Mississippi, she\u2019s got Southern charm and years of experience working in male-dominated baseball.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/JBTMBTGQVVGZNGKVTIZ4Y3S2ZU.jpg\")
The buildings offer a fine frame for Faneuil Hall and the Custom House from City Hall Plaza.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/UPOSBV3GDZNQK4E55TWNOBMCNU.jpg\")
From a picnic table, Smith praises the view but is disappointed there are no umbrellas.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
First, the good news. She loves the planting of 250 trees and other landscaping to reduce the brick wasteland and make it environmentally friendly. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fantastic and will only get better. The planting really does soften it up and makes a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
The playscape on the north side is clearly a home run.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really great. It feels very purposeful and nicely integrated into the plaza. Clearly designed for kids because of the soft surface. It\u2019s clearly filling a need in downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n
A beer garden there would be a good idea, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho wouldn\u2019t enjoy a relaxing cold drink more than folks watching their kids have fun?\u201d<\/p>\n
But she does not like the placement of the bronze Bill Russell statue, tucked away on the south side, in front of a beer garden that is supposed to be open but closed early last Wednesday evening. <\/p>\n
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The placement of the statue of Celtics great Bill Russell was a missed opportunity, according to Smith.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, rule number one with any kind of sculpture is people are going to photograph it. And the important thing is to have a beautiful background. [But] there is nowhere you can stand to get that. \u2026 It feels honestly out of place.\u201d<\/p>\n
She understands there are security issues that did not exist when City Hall Plaza first opened. But she does not like the addition of bright, yellow devices designed to stop vehicles from entering. Ditto for the metal barricades, some of which are carelessly tossed on their side. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo we might as well accept that that\u2019s going to be a part of our world and say, \u2018How can we do better than just put barriers and No Trespassing signs around?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Nor does she like the four security cars parked on the plaza , including one with its green lights flashing. <\/p>\n
\u201cIs that just for kicks?\u201d she asks. \u201cIt sends a signal that something is wrong if you\u2019ve got police cars everywhere. Make security measures disappear into the landscape, not highlight it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Washington, D.C., disguises its security measures very well, she says.<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DEZ6RXAFA33EAYX4VG5YORTSHU.jpg\")
Tom Brady addressed a packed City Hall Plaza during a Patriots victory parade on Feb. 7, 2017.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff![\"Brady](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7QRNC3WHINOKMNSM7FXCBT74OU.jpg\")
Brady and the Patriots addressed the City Plaza crowds from the top of the brick wall, left of center. The addition of trees and the playscape has now made holding big rallies here impossible.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
\u201cMany federal buildings in D.C. have built planters, seating walls, and tree protectors as part of the landscape, inviting more pedestrian use,\u201d she says. \u201cBut they are constructed to withstand the force of an oncoming vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
City Hall Plaza also doesn\u2019t blend well with the surrounding historic architecture. The Georgian-style Faneuil Hall is just across the street. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s all this stuff nearby \u2014 it\u2019s all historic, historic, historic and this (place) is sterile,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She says the new office buildings near the southeast side of the plaza cuts off some of those historic-building views and are \u201cboring.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the plaza, she gives the rebuilt Government Center MBTA station an A for effort. \u201cAn almost, but no\u201d she says. \u201cIt looks to me like it wants to be that beautiful Apple store by the Tribune Building in Chicago. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was shiny and this is sort of \u2026 translucent \u201d she says, adding that it was likely that way to avoid the heat effect.<\/p>\n
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The use of security structures around the plaza is haphazard. “We might as well accept [security’s] going to be a part of our world and say, \u2018How can we do better than just put barriers and No Trespassing signs around?\u2019\u201d Smith says.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
She thinks there is space wasted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really do think there needs to be a strong retail strategy for the ground floor of the buildings abutting City Hall Plaza. Imagine how much easier with restaurants and a lane of the road devoted to sidewalk dining vs. parking,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
Other elements are done half-baked. She loves the location of a half dozen picnic tables that look down over Faneuil Hall and the Custom House across Congress Street. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe way they\u2019ve got Faneuil Hall framed, that\u2019s really beautiful, but you move over 30 feet and it\u2019s blocked.\u201d She doesn\u2019t like that they are set on a piece of green artificial turf either.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phony turf thing, doesn\u2019t really do it right. Six tables in the sun with no umbrellas, that\u2019s not all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Smith is at home in Fenway Park, with a hot dog and a beer on the Pavilion level. Behind her are the seats she placed on top of the famed Green Monster.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
After the walking tour, we head to Fenway. Smith, who currently lives in Baltimore, where she runs a design company called Canopy, wants to sit in the stands and eat a hot dog slathered with mustard and enjoy an ice-cold beer. <\/p>\n
She watches the game and the crowd simultaneously, like a proud parent. It\u2019s a hoot to see people having fun in a place she designed. She never leaves before the last out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that the Green Monster seats have retained their cache after all these years. I think that\u2019s special,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s most proud of making Jersey Street an open-air extension of the ballpark.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made it fun and playful and removed the congestion in the concourse and allowed people to hang out.\u2019<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what City Hall Plaza needs: more fun, she says. <\/p>\n
![\"Smith](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/P5SKLSDHWORXGS3KXE76VJ7ZLI.jpg\")
Smith visits Jersey Street before a game on Venezuelan Night at Fenway Park. She is most proud of moving the turnstiles back and making Jersey Street a pedestrian extension of the ballpark.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n