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Charles River Skatepark
Background

Why a Skatepark on the Charles?

Providing a place for active recreation within the Charles River Parklands is a tradition that goes back to the 19th century and the work of landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Eliot who designed America's first outdoor gymnasium in front of Mass General Hospital. Then in the 20th century cardiologist Dr. Paul Dudley White, physician to President Eisenhower, also encouraged outdoor exercise and advocated for the creation of the 17 miles long pathway, which now bears his name, along the Charles River. The Charles River Conservancy (CRC) is continuing the legacy of active recreation along the Charles by incorporating a world-class skatepark into the Parklands between the Museum of Science and the Harbor.

As advocates for the stewardship and renewal of the Charles River Parklands, the CRC recognized a skatepark along the river as a wonderful way to bring athletes as well as spectators to these parklands. Highway ramps and bridges create a challenge and an opportunity: the noise and shadow lend themselves well for a skatepark just as typical green parklands benefit from full sun and quiet. Currently, this land is part of the Central Artery's parcel 29F, the last section of New Basin land to be designed as part of the $98 million mitigation efforts in connection with the Big Dig. While parts of parcel 29F are being designed for playing fields and parklands, there is a one acre area that lies in the shade of the access ramps that is ideal for a skatepark.

Since 2000, the Charles River Conservancy has advocated for a skatepark in the vicinity of the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, believing that the park would transform this locale into an attractive facility for greater Boston's youth. The landscape plans for the river's edge now include the skatepark but the cost for this new amenity needs to be raised privately to be integrated into the new parkland funded by Big Dig mitigation funds.

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