• HarborWalk Overview
• HarborWalk Website
• HarborWalk Interpretive Signage Inventory
• 2004 HarborWalk Improvements
• "Grading the Walk" Tours and HarborWalk Youth Education
• Paul A. Dever School HarborWalk Project

Boston Harbor's waterfront is a wonderful area for walking, sightseeing, fishing, or simply enjoying spectacular views of the Harbor!

In 1984, the City of Boston, at the suggestion of the Harbor Park Advisory Committee (of which The Boston Harbor Association was an active member), established "HarborWalk" guidelines to encourage development of public walkways and public access along Boston Harbor. The Boston Harbor Association continues to work closely with the City of Boston's Environmental Department, Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and waterfront property owners to ensure completion of the 43-mile HarborWalk. Currently, the HarborWalk is about 70% complete.

HarborWalk additions and improvements in recent years include: new or improved segments in the North End and Downtown, at Union Wharf, Sargent's Wharf, Lewis Wharf, Yacht Haven Marina, Long Wharf, and Harbor Towers; along Fan Pier (interim walkway) and the Moakley Federal Courthouse in South Boston; along the Fort Point Channel; in the Charlestown Navy Yard; along the East Boston waterfront including Pier's Park; at UMASS Boston in Dorchester; and at Boston Harbor Beaches in South Boston, East Boston, and Dorchester.

In July 2004, thanks to a $30,000 grant from The Boston Foundation, The Boston Harbor Association, in partnership with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, launched a website on Boston’s Harborwalk. The website provides accurate and up-to-date information on Harborwalk for the public, including maps, site descriptions, transportation information, and resources for enhancing neighborhood advocacy. The site will promote Boston’s Harborwalk as a resource for residents and visitors, encouraging them to take advantage of the many publicly accessible attractions along Boston Harbor. The website can be found at www.bostonharborwalk.com.

This spring, TBHA is compiling a comprehensive photographic inventory of existing interpretive signage on along the entirety of Boston's waterfront. Participants in TBHA's HarborWalk tours and Harbor education programs have consistently recommended that interpretive signage be developed to inform the public about important locations along Boston's waterfront. This initiative will provide an important starting point from which TBHA, in coordination with the Boston Redevelopment Authority and other interested parties, can begin to examine the types of signage which work best along Boston Harbor and to explore options for the development of a city-wide program for interpretive signage.

Through its detailed comment letters and as a member of the Boston Conservation Commission, The Boston Harbor Association is the key advocacy organization working to complete the entire Boston HarborWalk by 2008. During the past year, key segments have been added to the HarborWalk, allowing for additional public access along Boston Harbor:

• Tudor Wharf, Charlestown Waterfront 
  The Marriott Residence Inn at Tudor Wharf in Charlestown formally opened on 19 June 2003. An eight story, 168-suites hotel, it includes facilities of public accommodation on the ground floor-a sundry store, a public meeting room and public restrooms, and a lobby display about the history of Tudor Wharf. The lobby and restrooms are open to the public 24-hours a day. A very generous HarborWalk and deck surround the hotel, with the building set back 85 feet from the water's edge, in accordance with Massachusetts Waterways Regulations. The pier, with benches, trash receptacles and three interpretive signs designed by the Boston History Collaborative, looks out onto an informal fishing spot where stripers have been caught.
   
• Legal Sea Foods, Seafood Processing Center, South Boston Waterfront 
  In mid-June 2003, the Boston Conservation Commission approved the public access plan for Legal Sea Foods' Seafood Processing Center in the Boston Marine Industrial Park. When the facility opens in October of this year, the public will be able to walk along the HarborWalk and to enjoy a video presentation on Boston's fishing industry. This portion of the HarborWalk will connect to an interim HarborWalk on the adjacent parking facility, which will create a continuous public walkway from the Legal Sea Foods property to the HarborWalk at Vent Building Number 7 (latter designed by Carol Johnson and Associates).
   
• Fan Pier, South Boston Waterfront 
  This spring, "The Daily Catch" Restaurant opened on the harbor side of the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse. Within the restaurant are two free video screens which incorporate a "virtual tour" of the Boston Harbor Islands provided by the Island Alliance. The Island Alliance also has a store within the Restaurant, and there are restrooms available to the general public adjacent to the Restaurant. This summer, new interpretive signage will be installed along the Courthouse's HarborWalk. 
   
  As part of the Chapter 91 license for the undeveloped portion of the Fan Pier owned by the Pritzker family, an improved interim HarborWalk will be completed by the end of 2003. The interim HarborWalk will be incrementally improved to a permanent walkway as elements of the overall Fan Pier project are built.
   
• NSTAR Property, Reserved Channel, South Boston Waterfront 
  Boston Edison Company/NSTAR received an Order of Conditions from the Boston Conservation Commission for the construction of an Electrical Substation at 500 East First Street, South Boston. The proposal includes the construction of a HarborWalk with public amenities that will provide public access along the Reserved Channel.
   
• 500 Atlantic Ave, Fort Point Channel
   Intell Boston Harbor LLC at 500 Atlantic Avenue will shortly begin construction of a hotel and residential building, below grade parking, and public open space. Ninety-five feet of HarborWalk will be constructed, linking Congress Street to this site. The HarborWalk will include benches, lighting, plantings, and a new water transportation terminal (latter will be constructed by the Central Artery Project approximately by August, 2004, and will be the first element completed on the site).
   
• Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum, Fort Point Channel 
  Historic Tours of America is finalizing plans for the renovation of the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum, which will incorporate public access. They received a 30-year lease from the Boston Public Works Department in June, and it is anticipated that, following permitting, renovations will begin this year and be completed by summer 2004.
   
• Long Wharf, Downtown Waterfront 
  The Boston Redevelopment Authority is currently working on seawall stabilization and HarborWalk improvements at Long Wharf near the water transportation facility for the Boston Harbor Islands and various Harbor excursion boats. These improvements will ensure safe access to a 32-foot segment along the south side of Long Wharf, and should be completed by this summer.
   
• New England Aquarium, Downtown Waterfront 
  Construction of the new HarborWalk around the IMAX Theater and pier at the New England Aquarium is underway, with completion by mid-July. The Discovery Barge, home to the Aquarium's sea lions, will re-open to the public for the latter half of the summer and fall seasons, and then in December will be permanently relocated to make way for the completion of the pier and opening up of new view corridors to the Harbor.
   
• Pilot House, Lewis Wharf, North End Waterfront 
  A revised and improved interactive interpretive exhibit has been installed at the Pilot House on Lewis Wharf, in the Fleet Bank ATM space on Commercial Street. The exhibit incorporates text and historic images put together by Nancy Seasholes about the history of the Pilot House Building, the East Boston Ferry, and Boston Harbor.
   
• Boston Yacht Haven, Commercial Wharf, North End Waterfront 
  A handicap-accessible binocular was recently installed at Boston Yacht Haven on Commercial Wharf. The binocular, marked with signage, has been designed so that it can be used by people in wheelchairs as well as by children to look out at Boston Harbor.
   
• 160 North Washington Street/131 Beverly Street, Lovejoy Wharf, North End Waterfront 
  A temporary public walkway is required as part of the Chapter 91 License requirements for 160 North Washington Street/131 Beverly Street at Lovejoy Wharf. With connections to the adjacent HarborWalk constructed by the Central Artery Project, the interim walkway is to be completed by summer 2003, and will be replaced with a permanent HarborWalk at the time of redevelopment of the property.
   
• West Link, Dorchester Waterfront
  This summer, the MDC will complete the design for the West Link Project in Dorchester, located behind the Bayside Expo Center. The open space will connect Carson Beach to Old Harbor Park at Harbor Point, and will include an overlook, lighting along a new ADA-compliant walk, benches, picnic tables, and trees and beach grasses throughout the site. Corcoran Jennison Companies, which currently maintains the neighboring Old Harbor Park, will be responsible for the maintenance of this site.

With support from the Department of Environmental Management's Coastal Access Grant program, The Boston Harbor Association established the "Grading the Walk" program in 1998 to involve the public in evaluating existing conditions and recommending improvements to the HarborWalk. Since then, hundreds of people have continued to participate in TBHA's "Grading the Walk" tours along Boston Harbor. Their recommendations are continuously incorporated into our HarborWalk advocacy efforts.

To request a copy of TBHA's, 2001 "Grading the Walk" report which summarizes the findings of 18 months of HarborWalk tours and includes recommendations for completion of the HarborWalk, please call (617) 482-1722 or email us at mail@tbha.org.

The Boston Harbor Association's recently completed Chapter 91 Compliance, Boston, MA: Protection of the Public Rights on the Waterfront report gauges the success of regulatory measures to promote public access and public amenities along the waterfront. The report reviewed the Chapter 91 licenses of numerous waterfront properties in Boston to determine compliance with those special conditions in the Chapter 91 licenses which serve to promote public access. The findings in this report are based on site visits and research conducted primarily between October, 2000 and May, 2001, with some updates in July, 2001 and January, 2002.

The Boston Harbor Association's (TBHA) new "HarborWalk: Inner City Youth Access Project", begun Summer, 2002, teaches inner city youths about public access opportunities and issues while actively engaging them evaluating and improving segments of the HarborWalk. This new program was developed following the successful pilot project of a 5th grade class from the Paul A. Devers School in evaluating portions of the HarborWalk along the Dorchester waterfront. Besides working with public officials and property owners to complete the HarborWalk, TBHA also works with youths from inner city neighborhoods on HarborWalk activities. Today's youths will be responsible for maintaining and advocating for continued public access to Boston Harbor. By involving them now, young people will gain a greater sense of stewardship for Boston Harbor and the waterfront.

TBHA assembled the youth evaluations of the HarborWalk done in Summer and Fall 2002 into a "Youth Action Agenda." This agenda reflects the combined recommendations of all youths who participated in TBHA's HarborWalk: Inner City Youth Action Project.

Last spring, TBHA worked with a 5th grade class at the Paul A. Dever School in Dorchester to help them identify public access improvements along the Dorchester HarborWalk and to educate them about how they could exercise their rights as Boston residents to influence change. The students learned about HarborWalk while developing an understanding that they can play an integral role in promoting public access to Boston's waterfront. The students had the opportunity to meet with planners at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, open space advocates and developers in order to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the diverse interests along the waterfront.

The Boston Harbor Association   -   374 Congress Street, Suite 609   -   Boston, MA 02210   -   617-482-1722 (P)   -   617-482-9750 (F)   -   mail@tbha.org