Another Beer Garden Could Be Coming To Boston's Greenway

More beer could flow on the Rose Kennedy Greenway this summer.

The Greenway Conservancy on Friday put out a request for proposals from vendors to open a pop-up "drinkery" on Dewey Square near South Station. That follows the popular Trillium beer garden a few blocks north near Rowes Wharf.

Unlike the Trillium beer garden, everything in the Dewey Square spot would need to be packed into a shipping container every night or otherwise removed, Greenway Executive Director Jesse Brackenbury said. That's because Dewey Square already has a few regular events during the week. A farmers market sets up Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Thursday evenings from May to September, there's music at the Boston Calling Block Parties.

"In a significant way, we'll need a vendor who can work with us to be flexible and adaptive and pop up and disappear in the way that food trucks pop up in a location and disappear," Brackenbury said.

The Boston Herald first reported on the request for proposals.

The second beer garden is another way the nonprofit Greenway has looked to become more self sufficient. Brackenbury said in the eight years since he's been with the Greenway, it's gone from generating $75,000 annually from events and vendors, to $1.1 million — making up about a fifth of its annual budget.

Last year, the Trillium beer garden made the Greenway $150,000.

"Each of these ideas is one that is a great amenity for the park," Brackenbury said,  "but also one that supports our bottom line. ... Each one of those is a little small business that is employing people and we're contributing to their success. So the food trucks go on to open other restaurants and Trillium goes on to open a winter beer garden in Roslindale."

Trillium is expected to be back this year in the same spot it operated out of last year, but no deal's been inked yet.