CHARLES  RIVER  PARKLANDS  UPDATE
September 2002
Archives—Table of Contents

Dear Members and Parkland Friends,

With the passing of the autumnal equinox, the fall days allow us time to pause and reflect. Throughout the Charles River Parklands seasonal change abounds: in the burnished leaves of the oaks on the Esplanade, the glow of crabapples along Greenough Boulevard, the delighted cries of children on the structures in Artesani Playground at Herter Park. The sharp rap of the coxswain's block as crews strain in preparation for the Head of the Charles Regatta punctuates the calm, clear days.

Flocks of migratory birds pause in their flight south, soon to be gone, while cormorants remain stolid fixtures along the Parklands' shores. With almost 300,000 students having returned to Greater Boston's colleges and universities, the Parklands are more popular than ever. Joggers are out in legion numbers along Memorial Drive, where the Historic Parkways Initiative will soon give them wider paths and more greenspace in which to enjoy their exercise.

This fall, the Charles River Conservancy is continuing its commitment to renewing the Parklands in two very different but equally important ways: First, we are pleased and excited to announce the initiation of our Parklands Volunteer Program.

Through the kindness of a generous foundation, we have been able to add a full-time maintenance coordinator to the Conservancy staff to head up this critical effort. Years of deferred maintenance, ever-deeper cuts in MDC budgets and resulting personnel losses make this work more important than ever. Key to the success of the program, which will include shoreline management, cutting and planting, is volunteer participation. This is your chance to make a difference on behalf of the Parklands we all love.

As we look forward to the pleasure of rolling up our sleeves and getting to work with clippers, rakes and paint brushes, we also urge you to join us on November 9th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to celebrate the publication of Inventing the Charles River by Karl Haglund. A collaborative effort between the Charles River Conservancy and The MIT Press, Inventing the Charles River chronicles the development of the Parklands and their surroundings from their earliest days to the present.

Through this publication we believe both the visibility and the quality of public discussion regarding the Charles River Parklands will be substantially enhanced. Thus, while we will be working directly through hands-on maintenance programs to renew the Parklands, we are working also to provoke discussion of the significance and re-invention of the Parklands in our time. It is our sincere belief that a Parklands renaissance is well underway in Greater Boston, and that as the significance of the Charles River Parklands is more fully realized, our ability to move the process of re-greening our community forward will be strengthened and accelerated.

The day's program, entitled "The Charles River Parklands - Reclaiming the Legacy", includes three parts, starting with a symposium and panel composed of distinguished civic leaders, urban planners and academics.

Please join us, ask questions and share your own ideas about the Parkland's future. Following the morning symposium, a luncheon will honor those generous donors whose contributions have helped support the publication of Inventing the Charles River.

The program will close in the afternoon with a cruise hosted by the Charles River Boat Company. Author Karl Haglund will provide comments while we cruise to the New Basin below the Science Museum. There, we will view construction work for Nashua Meadows near the new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge.

Whether you join us in the pleasant labor of Parklands renewal (Call the CRC to join our volunteer program), participate with us on November 9th (Use the handy subscription envelope included with this edition of Charles River Parklands) or decide to participate in both programs, there is much to learn and enjoy along the Charles.

Renata von Tscharner

Charles River Parklands is published by The Charles River Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the Basin parklands of the Charles River.

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Email: crc@thecharles.org

 
© 2002, The Charles River Conservancy.