Tool (Shed) Time

From Dave Brigham:

I haven't been to Boston's Public Garden -- the first botanical garden in America -- all that much over the years, but I'd say I'm fairly familiar with this beautiful space. Still, after a recent exploration of some of the city's public alleys (see June 7, 2025, "In Which I Am an Alley Cat"), I strolled through the garden and truly noticed the tool house for the first time.

The tool house was built in 1946, replacing a women’s comfort station that stood there previously, according to this 2023 article in the Boston Sun. Architecturally, the 642-square-foot structure is reminiscent of the Victorian “stick style” bathroom it replaced, according to this 2023 article by the Beacon Hill Times.

Currently, the tool house is used by the Public Garden's facilities staff, as well as by operators of the Swan Boat ride in the adjacent lagoon.

There have been discussions in city government about renovating and expanding the quaint little building.

"Restoration of the tool house will include replacing its worn slate roof in kind and replacing deteriorating wood elements, including windows, wood cladding, and decorative wood trim – all of which are original to the building’s 1946 construction, said Bentson," the Boston Sun reported two years ago.

Architectural firm Utile is working with the Boston Public Facilities Department and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department on the project. "This expansion aims to provide much needed space for equipment storage and operations while carefully adapting to the various constraints of the site, including its adjacency to rare specimen trees," according to Utile's web site, where you can see renderings of the proposed work. "The new structure reinterprets the existing building’s Victorian façade elements in a modern and subdued language, allowing its newly-restored historic neighbor to remain the primary feature."

I'm not sure the status of the project.

Here's your headline explainer:

Yes, that's Pamela Anderson alongside Tim Allen and Richard Karn.

For another post about the Public Garden, and the adjacent Boston Common, see December 14, 2019, "Of Rugged Sports and Moorish Samaritans," about a memorial plaque and a statue.