Boston Redevelopment Authority
Boston, Massachusetts
A detailed plan to create Boston’s “next great place” by significantly improving the public’s use and enjoyment of the channel.
Recognition:
American Planning Association, Massachusetts Chapter—2003 Award for Comprehensive Planning
Project Highlights:
- Limited access and years of neglect had turned this former industrial waterfront into an orphan space flanked by rapidly developing downtown districts.
- The channel's resources include the newly expanded Boston Children’s Museum and the Tea Party Ship and Museum, both major Boston attractions.
Strategy:
- Create a plan that enhances public access to the waterfront through land- and water-based connections.
- Integrate elements of the working waterfront and important historic structures into an entirely new vision.
- Introduce creative water-based uses, including small boat activities, water transportation, performances, art instatllations, and special events and festivals—as well as opportunities to relax beside the water.
Goody Clancy designed and led a series of day-long charrettes for key stakeholders that formed the plan's foundation. The plan has garnered broad agency and public support, and several development projects that shaped its recommendations—and that will help finance its initiatives—are under construction.
"The most powerful element of the plan is its ability to connect with current construction and design projects. The developer of a hotel and office complex at 500 Atlantic Ave., for example, has committed to building a water transportation facility. And mitigation from the Central Artery project will yield major improvements to the seawalls as well as new public parks near the Children's Museum and the South Bay Industrial Area." —The Boston Globe