Davis Square comes to life for annual events such as ArtBeat and the Honk! street band festival, but for the past couple of years there’s been distractions to a reputation for fun and creativity: empty storefronts, and the use of prominent places as camps for the unhoused, public drug use and occasional violence.
Two efforts to revive the square as a community gathering place are at critical stages: A Down in Davis concert series launches this weekend, with bands performing in Statue Park at 5 p.m. Fridays at least through June 26; and a plan to bring busking and other arts to the Davis Square Plaza, which could see a formal approval from the property owner at any time.
The possibility of activating the plaza – the concrete expanse between Chipotle and the former Starbucks – was made public in a Monday email from Greg Nadeau of the Somerville Foundation, but organizers are holding back more detail until a formal agreement is in place. Asana, the North Carolina developer that has frozen its plans at the site because there are no tenants eager for lab space, has allowed use of the plaza for Honk! and other activities.
The ideas emerged from conversations taking place over the past year or so, said Lance Davis, the president of Somerville’s City Council and the councilor for Ward 6, which encompasses Davis Square. Along with the creative and community discussions, the past couple of years have seen the creation of a Davis Square Neighborhood Council and Davis Square Merchants Association.
“In those two different lines of discussion, one of the things that was was mentioned was, ‘Hey, activity in an area is always good, right?’ The more folks that are down in the square, the more everyone feels safe and comfortable,” Davis said in a Thursday call. “We can all be together in community, everyone from across the spectrum.”
Businesses and developments have stalled around the square because of the Covid pandemic, changing economy and rising interest rates. “Businesses that were cleared out in anticipation now are vacant, and there’s just a need for life,” Davis said.
The square described by Davis is exactly what greeted concert series co-organizer Aidan Rice when he moved here three years ago from Ohio for grad school.
“I loved it right away – the bars, the restaurants, everything going on around the square. I could tell maybe that it had more going on before I arrived, but was just kind of happy with what was available,” Rice said Wednesday. “As I got together with this group of people I’m working with, who have been around the square longer, they’ve all kind of spoken to how it’s gone downhill, with a lot more empty storefronts and less community gatherings and events, less good energy outside for the public.”
Police, city officials and City Hall staff and groups including the Somerville Homeless Coalition have all had input into the upcoming creative pushes. Davis said his involvement was limited and gave credit for the work to Nadeau and concert organizers such as Rice, JJ Gonson and Carla Delellis for pulling plans together and seeing them through. Gonson ran the nightclub Once Somerville on Highland Avenue for six years until the Covid pandemic; Delellis ran the nightclub Johnny D’s, which was open in the square from 1969 to 2016.
“I’ve put my two cents into the administration to support them in whatever way they could, sometimes just reaching out to the licensing folks and saying, ‘Hey, where does this stand,’” Davis said.
The original vision was to get people to come and perform throughout the week – a “Buskerville” that might include a website artists could use to coordinate and publicize their presence in the square, Davis said.
Rice said the goal remains the same, for a square that is seen as a hub for music and culture, and a good place for artists to gather. The plaza activation is coming out of the same set of conversations around “creating as many cool community events as possible,” but is not directly related to the concert series, he said. He is focused on getting the series launched and to see what grows around it.
“Reclamation is a perfect way to put it,” Rice said, “just taking back and creating a more positive feel for the square in general.”
Down in Davis concert series, 5: 30 p.m. Friday at Statue Park in Davis Square, Somerville
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