The Greenway Wants to Have a Second Beer Garden at Dewey Square This Year

And it's likely that Trillium will return.


People at the Trillium Garden on the Greenway in 2017

People at the Trillium Garden on the Greenway in 2017. / Photo provided by Trillium

Come spring, the Greenway could have not one but two bustling beer gardens. The Boston Herald reports that the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy is poised to release a request for proposals today, seeking an operator of a pop-up beer garden at Dewey Square, similar the the one Trillium Brewing ran last year.

The so-called Dewey Square Drinkery would likely be in addition to a redux of the Trillium Garden on the Greenway, located across from Rowes Wharf.

“We are in ongoing discussions with (the) Rose Kennedy Greenway team and anticipate returning this summer,” a Trillium rep told the Herald. The RFP echoes this statement, and also confirms plans to continue Boston Calling Block Parties in 2018.

Trillium is currently operating a wintertime pop-up bar at the Roslindale Substation, with a TBD end-date sometime this spring.

The non-profit Greenway Conservancy said they would look for an operator other than Trillium to fulfill the second contract.

“We hope to find concepts that are mobile, fun, distinctive, and will bring a unique, approachable, and invigorating vibe to our space,” reads the RFP.

The Dewey Square beer garden would be situated right across from South Station. It would operate at least two days per week, potentially Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and/or weekends, so as not to coincide with the twice-weekly Dewey Square farmers’ market. The Trillium Garden was open Wednesday-Sunday from June 1-October 29.

The new operator would have between 3,300-5,000 square feet for the open-air bar, to which the conservancy is hoping to attract 100,000 people. The Trillium Garden (which was about 4,000 square feet) saw that many guests last year, and earned about $150,000 for the Greenway.

The goal of last year’s beer garden was not only to attract young professional visitors to the mile-and-a-half stretch of parks in downtown Boston, but also to spur new revenue. The Greenway takes donations, and also receives financing from the state, city, and nearby businesses, but opportunities like the Trillium Garden and last year’s zipline also go toward its $5 million operating budget. In June, the Greenway signed a 10-year lease with the Department of Transportation, which also stipulated that the Massachusetts agency would cut back its support from $2 million to $750,000 by 2020.

Bids for the Dewey Square Drinkery are due by Feb. 20, and the Greenway will choose an operator by March 9.

rosekennedygreenway.org.

A pints at the Trillium Garden on the Greenway in spring 2017

A pints at the Trillium Garden on the Greenway in spring 2017. / Photo provided by Trillium

The Dewey Square gateway to the Greenway

The Dewey Square gateway to the Greenway. / Photo by Olga Khvan