The Newton Centre Plaza will live to see another summer.

Last fall, the Traffic Council approved the Newton Centre Plaza Pilot—a pop-up gathering spot with seating areas and games created by the Ruthanne Fuller administration—to remain standing through October 2026.

Opponents of the plaza say it uses critical parking spaces, while others who want to keep the plaza where it is say the plaza had encouraged more foot traffic in the village center.

So, Councilor Tarik Lucas proposed changing the end date of the pilot for the plaza from the end of October to May 31. On Monday night, Councilor Julia Malakie offered an amendment that would end the plaza pilot at the end of June, with the chance to renew it then. That amendment passed, despite the effort failing.

The City Council voted against moving the end date up to June from its original October date, with nine votes in favor and 15 against.

The “yes” votes were cast by Councilors Lisle Baker, Randy Block, Lisa Gordon, Julie Irish, Tarik Lucas, Julia Malakie, Jacob Silber, Pam Wright and John Oliver.

City Councilor Susan Albright said she wants the City Council to work on a comprehensive plan for Newton Centre’s village center and, in the meantime, leave the plaza where it is through October and gather more data and feedback.

Feedback has varied so far, with some afraid of what fewer parking spots will mean for businesses and others happy about the new addition to the village center landscape.

“The folks who wrote to keep the pilot value a gathering spot, a place to get takeout from village restaurants and eat with family and friends,” Albright said. “There’s a friendly space for people with disabilities, whether adults or children, to gather with others and take part in all that the center has to offer.”

Ward 6 Councilor Martha Bixby said she understood the frustration seen in the beginning of the plaza planning process.

“And I think the businesses, the neighbors, counselors, were not brought into the process, and concerns and ideas were not heard, and we’ve ended up in a place where there’s a lot of frustration and division,” Bixby said. “Let’s not repeat those mistakes. We’ve heard from a lot of people, which has been really wonderful, about how much they value Newton Centre and how much they want to see it thrive and be a vibrant, wonderful place to visit, to shop, to eat.”

Echoing Albright’s comments, Bixby pledged to listen to business owners and others as she and other city councilors work on a comprehensive plan for Newton Centre, one that will take much more time to craft.

“We’ve also heard from many members of our community who really value this free, accessible public gathering space, and I count myself as one of those people, especially as a mom of younger kids who are just starting to explore the world independently,” she said.

Councilor Tarik Lucas, a vocal critic of the plaza, read from a letter submitted by a doctor whose office is in the village center. That doctor is worried that cutting parking spaces could dissuade his patients from getting the medical care they need.

Lucas also noted that the plaza was paid for with American Rescue Plan Act, which was meant to help businesses survive.

“ARPA dollars were created during Covid to help those businesses, and people who were most affected by the pandemic, particularly restaurants, especially here in Newton, that were severely impacted,” Lucas said. “And how ironic that the funds that were meant to be used to help out the businesses, those businesses are now saying and have said consistently, ‘We don’t want this.’”

Councilor Brittany Charm said the plaza has been good for gathering data on how people use the village center.

“If we know that we want to be doing a permanent gathering space, we owe it more time to be getting data on what people think of the different features,” Charm said. “What kind of programming can we be doing with the Arts and Culture Department? What can we be doing with our new Economic Development team?”

Allowing the plaza to stay up for a second summer will provide much more of that data, she added, and it will allow officials to have lengthy discussions about more than just date changes. and involving more voices than those on the City Council.

“I would urge us to have that discussion in a way that citizens can contribute to, that the businesses can contribute to,” Charm said. “Let’s not have that discussion here.”

Councilor David Micley said he didn’t understand the plaza idea at first. But since it’s been built, his kids gravitate toward it every time they go to Newton Centre.

“And I don’t know if it was games or the tables or maybe they just love concrete, but they just want to go there,” Mickey said. “And I see other kids also want to go there. It’s a space where we hang out every time we can when the weather is good. So that’s just my personal perspective. I honestly don’t understand why they enjoy it, but they enjoy it, so I will take them.”