Boothby Square
The square in 2023, looking southwest from the Silver Street intersection
Location within Portland
Maintained byCity of Portland
LocationPortland, Maine, U.S.
Coordinates43°39′25″N 70°15′07″W / 43.65701°N 70.251887°W / 43.65701; -70.251887

Bootby Square is a public square in Portland, Maine, United States. Located on the last remaining cobblestoned section of Fore Street, it is named for Frederic E. Boothby, a former mayor of Portland.[1] A water trough in the square is dedicated to Boothby's philanthropic wife, Adelaide.[2]

Now open, but surrounded by sections of granite blocks, the square was formerly enclosed by iron railings.[3] The street is bisected by Silver Street.

"Tracing the Fore"

In 2006, the City of Portland installed a piece of public art, titled "Tracing the Fore", in the square, created by landscape artist Shauna Gillies-Smith. It cost around $135,000. The piece received a large amount of criticism, and was removed in 2011. It was sold for $100 at a local auction, with the successful bidder also paying $9,000 for its removal. Gillies-Smith, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, claimed the City did not want to put the funds towards making the sculpture look acceptable, while Alex Jaegerman, Portland's planning-division director, refuted the claim that money was the issue. He had received a petition without around 150 signatures, asking for the sculpture to be removed.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Boothby Square - City of Portland official website
  2. ↑ "Boothby Square Watering Trough". www.publicartportland.org. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Boothby Square, Portland, ca. 1920". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  4. ↑ Bidgood, Jess (October 1, 2011). "Maine City Casts Off Spurned Sculpture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
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