Sep 8, 2026 · 5 min · 5 segments
Proposed White House security plans raise new questions. What about public access on Beacon Hill? Colin Young explains how Massachusetts’ 9/11 history still shapes policy and remembrance.
Carrie HealyHost
The Washington Post reported last week that federal officials plan to permanently fence off Lafayette Square, turning the area around the White House into something of a fortress.
Colin, are Massachusetts leaders considering similar barriers around the Statehouse? Is Beacon Hill staying open?
Well, there hasn't been much fresh talk of new security measures at the statehouse, but that's been something that they've been working on sort of slowly but surely over the last several years to where it's been an evolution, but the statehouse already is largely blocked off from real direct public access.
And the really beautiful statehouse grounds, the lawns are just not accessible anymore.
But at this point, I'm not sure there's really much more for them to wall off.
But in Washington, officials are even debating ripping up historic bricks because protesters could use them as weapons.
Do officials here look at brick in the same way, or is that strictly a D.C. concern? Oh.
I haven't heard that one specifically as a concern, but I would bet that it is something that they consider.
The brick sidewalks in Beacon Hill are always a matter of sort of neighborhood contention.
There are always people who want to maintain the character of that neighborhood, and to them that means building.
Brick sidewalks that are often uneven with bricks often heaving up out of the sidewalk.
So I would bet the state police and the DCR Rangers who do security at the statehouse are very mindful of those things.
The Washington Post reported last week that federal officials plan to permanently fence off Lafayette Square, turning the area around the White House into something of a fortress.
Colin, are Massachusetts leaders considering similar barriers around the Statehouse? Is Beacon Hill staying open?
Well, there hasn't been much fresh talk of new security measures at the statehouse, but that's been something that they've been working on sort of slowly but surely over the last several years to where it's been an evolution, but the statehouse already is largely blocked off from real direct public access.
And the really beautiful statehouse grounds, the lawns are just not accessible anymore.
But at this point, I'm not sure there's really much more for them to wall off.
But in Washington, officials are even debating ripping up historic bricks because protesters could use them as weapons.
Do officials here look at brick in the same way, or is that strictly a D.C. concern? Oh.
I haven't heard that one specifically as a concern, but I would bet that it is something that they consider.
The brick sidewalks in Beacon Hill are always a matter of sort of neighborhood contention.
There are always people who want to maintain the character of that neighborhood, and to them that means building.
Brick sidewalks that are often uneven with bricks often heaving up out of the sidewalk.
So I would bet the state police and the DCR Rangers who do security at the statehouse are very mindful of those things.
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