Date Of Event: May 21 & May 22, 2016
Location: Ross Parking Garage, Ross Way & Parking Way, Quincy, MA
Parking: Not for long
Hours: Not many more left
Like a lot of the biggish towns that many of us grew up in, Quincy, Massachusetts has seen a lot of changes over the years. Businesses have come and gone. But, the one thing that has remained a staple of the area for so long may seem rather mundane, a parking lot. As funny as it may seem, it is the one place most everyone has been to, either in their car or their friend’s car. Or, for some other reason people may not want to divulge.
The demolition of the garage, slated for the end of May, is just another example of the changing face of the Quincy landscape. The three story garage, which has 700 parking spots and has been around since 1984, will be replaced by a hotel. Even though it’s just a garage, and not a very state of the art or pretty one at that, it represents the changing of the city. And some people are pretty shook up about it for some reason.
Since the garage was blowing demolished sometime in the near future and the garage was being closed for good May 23, the city organized a block party and let some of the artists in the area paint some murals and art work on the walls of the garage the weekend before the garage was officially closed.
I caught this artist working on his mural
Here is the end result of all of his work
On the other side of this wall, I found this cool Quincy themed mural.
The road next to the garage was blocked off to traffic so people could congregate and enjoy the art work like the murals and art below.
Even the little kids at the block party got into the action.
The paintings in the upper levels of the garage were more graffiti than artsy.
“Be fearless in pursuit of what puts your soul on fire”(an unattributed famous quote)
I didn’t realize just how creepy abandoned parking garages can be until I went to photograph the Ross Parking Garage on its last day. It just doesn’t seem right.
Goodbye, Ross Parking Garage. You’ll be missed. Well, not really.
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New England Nomad 
May 26th, 2016 at 6:56 pm
Awesome! I love murals!
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May 26th, 2016 at 6:57 pm
They did such a great job with them! It’s a shame they will be gone after the demolition. At least I have preserved them here!
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May 26th, 2016 at 6:59 pm
It is a shame! Yes, that’s what we photographers do; document and preserve 😊 !!!
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May 26th, 2016 at 8:24 pm
Those shots of the empty garage are cool! Very dystopian looking and creepy. Personally I love blocky, brutalist architecture – my favorite example being my hometown’s city hall – Boston’s city hall plaza. It’s so ugly, that it somehow flips around and isn’t anymore. it’s fascinating!
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May 26th, 2016 at 11:12 pm
I know the building you speak of. I live just outside of Boston. If I remember correctly, that building is regularly mentioned as one of the “ugliest” buildings in our state and they are always talking about replacing it! I do like the angles and architecture of some the “brutalist” architecture as well. At least it has it’s own distinct look.
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May 26th, 2016 at 11:16 pm
It’s awesome! It’s so daring. The plaza surrounding it is huge too and serves no real purpose. It gets used like twice a year for some rally or another. I think it’s an amazing monument to 60’s skewed idealism. They meant well, but it didn’t work out.
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May 26th, 2016 at 11:20 pm
Yes, it does speak to the individualism of the city and I like the boldness of bucking trends.
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May 26th, 2016 at 8:48 pm
That is so awesome!
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May 26th, 2016 at 10:55 pm
I know! It was so cool watching them create the art. Then, seeing the final product the next day. They are some really talented people!
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May 27th, 2016 at 12:25 am
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
IF IT IS ABANDONED…THEN I GUESS IT IS AVAILABLE…TO THE ARTISTS!
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May 27th, 2016 at 2:39 am
Thank you for the reblog! See it while you still can! It’s going to be gone soon!
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May 27th, 2016 at 2:47 am
OH NO!
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May 27th, 2016 at 12:31 am
Nice art—some of it…still on someone else’s propert–BUT ABANDONED…easier to justify?
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May 27th, 2016 at 12:38 am
I love the art work – not so much the graffiti stuff, but the art work of the murals. I have seen some graffiti that is great, the irritation comes when others deface the fine work of someone else. Thanks for the good images.
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May 27th, 2016 at 1:10 am
Thank you Larry. I agree the murals are really cool. But the graffiti isn’t that great. I see a lot of graffiti in the city and most of it isn’t pretty or artistic. I do like the stylized graffiti though.
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May 29th, 2016 at 8:44 pm
I wish city’s would arrange for this kind of stuff in spaces that AREN’T about to be demolished…. it’s sort of sad to see that kind of artwork go so soon. I love the steampunk elephant. Probably my favorite of the pieces.
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May 30th, 2016 at 2:48 am
I agree. The artists put so much time and effort into their work and to see it all demolished is a shame (demolition is set for the end of May, after the holiday). I liked the elephant one also. I also really liked the one of the man touching his goatee. Thank you.
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June 5th, 2016 at 1:47 am
That’s some amazing artwork. I am glad you got pictures of it.
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June 6th, 2016 at 12:33 am
Yes they are all very talented. I’m glad they got to show off their talents.
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June 20th, 2016 at 10:35 am
Nice journal approach to something important to the community
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June 21st, 2016 at 2:11 am
Thank you TPJ. I wish artists in the community had other outlets like this to show off their work.
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June 24th, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Thanks for this post. Cities are constantly fighting graffiti and spending enormous amounts of money on removing it from their miles of concrete. I think every community should turn these huge city canvases over to the artists who live there to cover with their images and interpretations of modern life. There are small sections along the walking trails here in Colorado Springs where this kind of art work is found on sections of concrete such as under the overpasses. I don’t know how long it has been there but it’s theme is very local and the images seem to have been there for a long time. I wish there was more of this along other stretches of concrete in other areas of the city.
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June 24th, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Thank you, Angie! It is a shame there are not more outlets for people with their artistic ability to show off their art. That is great that Colorado Springs allows some murals and graffiti.
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