With Protesters Gone, Crews Work To Restore Greenway

A teeming tent city in Dewey Square is gone. In its place is about three-quarters of an acre of dirt.

Crews from the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy moved in just hours after the police arrested 46 protesters and cleared the Occupy Boston encampment early Saturday morning. They started by pumping air back into soil that had been compacted by the weight of dozens of tents over the past 10 weeks, and adding organic compost. On Monday, crews will lay down sod.

Greenway Executive Director Nancy Brennan said she hopes to have the park open to the public by Thursday or earlier.

"Two weeks from now, it will look green. It will be completely open to the public to use for casual enjoyment," Brennan said. "I'm looking forward to having everybody out here building snowmen soon."

Brennan said she will have a better idea of the full price tag in the coming days, but estimates the cost will run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Brennan said the space is still central for civic engagement.

"Occupy Boston is a piece of the Greenway's history, piece of Boston's history, and it will ever be thus," Brennan said. "But this is an expression that should be without the limitations of a small three-quarter acre of park."

She said the entire Greenway, like many public parks, will always play a central role in civic engagement.

Click "Listen Now" for the full conversation with Nancy Brennan.