Controversy has continued to plague Children’s Hospital’s $1.5 Billion plan to build a new 11-story building that would consequently pave over the hospital’s beloved Prouty Garden.
For over 60 years the garden has served as an oasis for sick children and their parents to escape and enjoy the outdoors. One of those children was Mayor Marty Walsh, who was treated for cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's hospital from 1974-1978.
“In the springtime and the summertime, my mother and father would take me out to Prouty Garden. I remember it well, going out there in the wooden wheelchair at the time. I remember what happened there, it was a great place,” Walsh said on Boston Public Radio on Friday.
As a patient, Walsh recalled often having to share rooms with up to eight other children. The only kids who were lucky enough to get a room to themselves were in poor medical condition. When Walsh was allowed to have an individual room he had pneumonia and double pneumonia. Despite having his own room, there was barely any space for his parents to spend the night.
“There was no place for my mother and father to sleep if they wanted to stay with me. Often my parents would sleep literally in the exits,” said Walsh.
Children’s Hospital’s expansion would create more space, creating larger individual rooms, which would allow parents to comfortably stay by their children’s side without having to be cramped in hallways and chairs. “Because of that, because of the need for expansion to make that happen at Children’s Hospital, I support Children’s Hospital building where Prouty Garden is,” said Walsh.
When the construction is complete, new and bigger gardens will be established where parents can take their kids, says Walsh. Although the Mayor does sympathizes with the families sadden by the potential loss of the garden, he believes the benefits of the expansion will be undeniable. “It is important for growth and it’s important to give future parents the opportunity to spend time with their kids. That’s what this is for. That for me is more important.”
Listen to Boston Public Radio's interview with Mayor Walsh Above.
