Carl Barron Plaza reopened Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, ending nearly three years of construction. People gathered in the heart of Cambridge’s Central Square for speeches, live entertainment, food and free tote bags.
The plaza, at 632 Massachusetts Ave., is the endpoint of the River Street Infrastructure and Streetscape Project, a $25 million public works effort by the city with nearby businesses, the MBTA and the Central Square community, said Michael Monestime, president of the Central Square Business Improvement District.
The plaza has about 50 percent more seating than before, more than twice as many trees, a separated bike lane and reconfigured MBTA bus stops with custom shelters and real-time arrival information.
The centerpiece is The Ribbon, a sculpture that winds through the space and doubles as seating, lighting and a stage for performances and community events. Its programmable lights are designed to make the structure visible day or night, and it’s decorated with “The Riparian Ribbon,” a mural by local artist Sophy Tuttle inspired by the ecosystems of the nearby Charles River.
Officials including mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Public Works commissioner John Nardone and city manager Yi-An Huang addressed the crowd and expressed hopes for the redesigned plaza: “to strengthen Central Spare as a vibrant civic heart of our city, a place that feels welcoming, accessible and inviting to everyone who lives here, works here, visits here and is simply passing through,” Siddiqui said.
The intention is to have “programming in the plaza five days a week” that will include live music, DJs, buskers, food trucks and local vendors and cultivate a public space “free and accessible for all,” Monestime said.
“The challenges with good public space is just maintaining it and being good stewards,” Monestime said. “I think all the folks involved in this project will help continue that path forward.”
The plaza is “completely different” from Starlight Square, Monestime said. The pandemic-era outdoor event space was closed by the city in July 2024 despite opposition from the Business Improvement District. “The plaza was a gathering space well before Starlight,” albeit one that didn’t have the programming that’s now planned for the corner, he said. “The redesign of this beautiful space will just help ensure that this corner of Central Square is really cared for.”
His organization’s relationship with city government is “stronger than ever,” Monestime said.
A family legacy
The plaza is named after Carl F. Barron, the longtime Central Square business leader and philanthropist known as the neighborhood’s unofficial mayor. He died in 2014 at 98. His son Kenneth Barron, a longtime property owner who helped form the Central Square Business Improvement District, said in a speech that the family’s ties to Cambridge span five generations.
Carl Barron spent more than 70 years in business with Barron Furniture, which Kenneth said was ahead of its time in seeing what a furniture rental business could become. It grew into a national operation.
“The business was only part of his life,” he added. “He supported many nonprofits, helped build the Cambridge business community and took a personal interest in the people and causes he served. You can still see the reach of that work today.”
Barron scholarships continue to support students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, the Barron Center for Men’s Health serves the community at Mount Auburn Hospital and the Barron Award recognizes public servants. His father’s advocacy, he said, inspired his own work to help form the business improvement district. He thanked the organizations involved in the redesign, stating that “the neighborhood is a better place” due to their efforts.
Redesign and reputation
Public reaction to the plaza was mixed. Many people showed up to appreciate the redesign, though several expressed concern for a spot with a reputation of being occupied primarily by the unhoused.
Linda Weinstein has lived in Cambridge for 73 years, and raised seven kids in the neighborhood. She said Central Square used to be a place where violence and public drug use forced her to pick her route carefully when walking with a child.
“There’s been a big difference now. And I hope the way it is today, it will stay like this,” she said. “But my concern is now this is so beautiful. What’s going to happen?”
As a former employee of the Salvation Army, Weinstein understands the “struggles of the underprivileged” and has no problem with them using the plaza. “I hope that we can all come together and sit here and have a nice cup of coffee together,” she said. “Just don’t start no problems.”
Jackie Erbstein, a longtime resident of Inman Square, expressed similar hopes, but said “the outcome was visually disappointing” to her after three years of construction.
“I’m shocked that it took so long for them to do this. It just seemed like a long time, and we hope it’s an improvement,” she said. “I remember when Central Square used to be very different here. It was a little more upscale. And I hope that it becomes like that again.”
A place to connect
Monestime acknowledged the “challenges” of the former plaza, and said that the unhoused population was considered during the redesign. He said that there will be a care team for resource navigation and basic needs support.
“Good public space is a space that’s open and accessible for all. And really, the goal here is that everyone feels welcome,” he said. “I think Cambridge better than anyone will work together to make sure that everyone feels welcome here.”
The crowd stood and applauded as public officials opened the plaza. Behind them, a line formed for free sandwiches and lemonade, and a band struck up. Several people stopped to read the marker dedicated to Carl Barron: “The foundation of a strong and diverse community is based upon respect, trust and fellowship. Connecting with people is being involved.”
Earlier in the program, Kenneth Barron had said those words “sound like my father,” and that he hoped the renewed plaza would be a place where the next generation connects and gets involved.
The plaza is “a place to meet old friends, make a new friendship, enjoy a performance or simply sit for a while. [My father] would have loved seeing people use it,” he said “He might also have a thing or two to say about the pigeons.”