Help create a place for economic recovery and community healing in the heart of Central Square.

We are at a pivotal moment as a city, Commonwealth, and country, navigating the coronavirus pandemic in the middle of a civil rights movement. This is a time for leadership. This is a moment to reimagine solutions for entrenched problems of inequity in our communities, beginning most urgently with safe access to outdoor space.

We know that in order to keep our communities safe, our daily routines must transition outside. That includes worship, learning, dining, and dialogue. Outside is where our local economy will recover and where we, as neighbors, will heal. 

In the context of the current historic moment, the Central Square BID is redoubling its efforts to think creatively about placekeeping. We believe now is the time to reimagine what's possible and build the spaces our community and Cultural District need to recover.

If you share this priority, we're asking for your support for Starlight.

What is Starlight?

Starlight is an 120-day intervention that will transform Municipal Parking Lot #5 (behind Revolutionary Clinics and H-Mart) from a space for cars into a place for people. Built with scaffolding and scrim, Starlight consists of four foundational elements:

• ​A HOME FOR THE ARTS

Starlight includes a first-of-its-kind outdoor performance venue. It is designed to safely seat 150 guests for dance, theatre, and other cultural programs during COVID-19.

• AN OUTDOOR DINING DESTINATION

As restaurants fight to stay open, Starlight will expand the district’s capacity for outdoor dining.

• A LIFELINE FOR SUMMER LEARNING

There are four community centers in Central Square with generational ties to the community. They run summer programs for youth and food pantries for families, both of which must now happen outside. Starlight's outdoor learning space will provide a lifeline for these essential community services, ensuring childcare and food security efforts can continue through the pandemic. Starlight will also be a site for the Mayor's Youth Summer Employment Program.

• A CANVAS FOR PUBLIC ART

Art speaks volumes. The entire exterior of Starlight will be covered in scrim, a flexible canvas for artists of all mediums to speak their piece during this historic time. Four marquee murals have been curated by artist collective, Street Theory.

The Starlight performance venue will host cultural partners' productions Wednesday through Sunday nights. During the day and on off nights, it will provide the neighborhood with safe access to outdoor space for dialogue, events, education, and worship. Though temporary, Starlight offers a glimpse of what permanent, mixed-use community development could look like in Central Square.

Starlight is a community effort.

For the last three months, the BID, in collaboration with the architecture and design teams at Flagg Street Studio and Boyes-Watson Architects, has worked closely with City Manager Louis A. DePasquale's office and many City of Cambridge departments, including Traffic, Parking, and Transportation, Community Development, Finance, and Public Works to plan the transition from parking lot to outdoor venue. 

We held weekly research and development meetings with leaders at faith-based organizations, non-profits, small businesses, and arts and cultural institutions in the Square to understand their needs and design a space to meet them. 

Partners include: St. Paul AME Church, Central Square Theater, Dance Complex, ImprovBoston, Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House, Cambridge Community Center, Community Art Center, Tutoring Plus of Cambridge, and Brick & Mortar, among others.

​Help us bring Starlight to life.

We are creating something entirely new. Amidst news of permanent closures and bankruptcies, Starlight epitomizes our community's resilience. With your help, Starlight will open to the public this summer (early August) and provide a season’s worth of opportunity. 

On behalf of everyone involved, thank you for consideration and support. We hope to celebrate this achievement with you soon.

A portion of funds raised here ($15,000) will be matched by MassDevelopment as part of the Commonwealth Places program.