City Manager work with the Central Square Business Improvement District and provide a license agreement, as well as direct financial and regulatory support for the continued and uninterrupted operation of Starlight Square

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For forty years, City of Cambridge planning studies, including Envision Cambridge, the Red Ribbon Commission on the Concerns and Delights of Central Square, C2K2, as well as the Arts Task Force, have called for the activation of City-owned parking lots in Central Square to support its cultural identity and establish a civic center; and

Starting in March 2020, one week before the COVID-19 pandemic emergency was declared in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the temporary installation known as Starlight Square put into action these forty years of planning, finally creating a square in the Square on Municipal Lot #5 at 84 Bishop Allen Drive; and

Since its inception, Starlight Square has been a partnership between the Central Square

Business Improvement District and the City of Cambridge, hosted on City-owned land

and facilitated by a license agreement between the two parties and operated with the collaboration of the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department; and

For three successful seasons, Starlight Square has been a safe and free, outdoor home for cultural life in Cambridge, with over a quarter million dollars given directly to performers and event organizers; and

Essential community and civic events are often hosted at Starlight Square, including the 2022 City Council inauguration, high school prom, and countless others; and

Concurrent with the arts and cultural programming, Popportunity, now a 501c3, developed and grew roots at Starlight Square, creating a home for local entrepreneurship to flourish in the neighborhood, serving hundreds of entrepreneurs, predominantly local, women of color (WOC), and resulting in five WOC opening their own brick-and-mortar businesses; and

Continued regulatory and financial support for Starlight Square is a City Council priority, so that it cannot only continue to serve its essential function to the public life of the City, but also expand on it, continuing the district-wide priority of transforming space for cars into places for people; and

Establishing a permanent building that houses the essential functions supported by Starlight Square is a City Council priority; and

The ongoing regulatory and financial support of the temporary installation shall run in parallel with an urgent investigation of said permanent building in the Cultural District, so as to not delay the timeline and keep partners and abutters in limbo, including a transparent answer to Square in the Square applicants regarding the ARPA application from January 2022; now therefore be it

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Central Square Business Improvement District and provide a license agreement, as well as direct financial and regulatory support for the continued and uninterrupted operation of the temporary installation; and be it further

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to urgently pursue the establishment of the permanent building on Lot 5 that delivers the essential benefits and functions demonstrated by the temporary installation, beginning with the release of ARPA funds awarded to perform a study; and be it further

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back to the City Council in a timely manner.