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TBHA Home > Resources > Harbor News |  |
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Harbor News
Harbor News is designed by The Boston Harbor Association to keep the general public current on a number of new and ongoing activities and initiatives around Boston Harbor. Click on any of the topics below for more information.
With summer just around the corner, now is the time to enjoy Boston Harbor with The Boston Harbor Association (TBHA). Thanks to the support of our generous members and sponsors, all of TBHA’s HarborWalk tours, cruises, and activities are free of charge and open to the public. Be sure also to check out our new activities for young professionals (limited to those ages 21-35 years old, please). Click here for TBHA events.
The section of the HarborWalk that spans the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum now offers visitors increased opportunity to take in the spectacular view of the downtown skyline and connects to the long stretch of HarborWalk along the UMass Boston campus. Thanks to the advocacy of the Charlestown Waterfront Coalition, an improved section of the HarborWalk opened at the Schrafft Center in spring, 2010. The HarborWalk is next to the existing ball field, and is another link connecting Charlestown to a growing network of pedestrians and bicycle pathways in Somerville and surrounding communities. The walkway extends along the shoreline adjacent to the Mystic River, with a viewing area and benches where the waterfront path ends and connects to Medford Street. A boat ramp is also on the site.
Visitors walking along the Fort Point Channel in late April, 2010 may have noticed the new interpretive markers along the HarborWalk installed by the InterContinental Boston Hotel. The new markers tell the story of the Boston Tea Party, Fort Point Channel, and the InterContinental Hotel.
Immediately next door, the facility of public accommodation at 470 Atlantic Avenue has been completed. The indoor space, which is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., provides a quiet respite on the HarborWalk. A seating area is available for families and visitors, together with educational displays about Independence Wharf (site of the Boston Tea Party) as well as a television monitor tuned to CNN news. Visitors can also enjoy the free 14th floor observation deck in the building, with views of Boston Harbor, the Harbor Islands, and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway (free telescope available). The Boston Harbor Association successfully advocated for these public amenities during permitting and enforcement proceedings of the building.
On the Fan Pier along the South Boston waterfront, Louis Boutique moved into a two-story building in late April. The building has a small second-floor lookout for visitors. Boston’s newest waterfront restaurant, Sam’s, has opened on the second floor of Louis Boston.
The newest waterfront park along Boston Harbor opened next door at One Marina Park Drive. Along with a dramatic harbor vista, the Public Green offers something totally unexpected- music that is played 24/7. Don’t be surprised to see the public walking with a slight bounce to their step or dancing along the HarborWalk while enjoying the music that is programmed to change intermittently. A public rest room and small sitting area are available to the public in the lobby of the One Marina Park Drive building.
The Boston Harbor Association launched its 2010 Harbor Bound education program on 29 April with a field trip to Deer Island for middle school students from the Timilty School in Roxbury. Staff from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority had visited the school earlier in the year to provide an orientation for the students about the Boston Harbor Project.
The students were excited to visit Deer Island to see first-hand the waste water treatment plant which has helped to make Boston Harbor one of the cleanest urban waterways in the country. As the boat got closer to Deer Island, the students marveled at the two wind turbines which are providing energy on the island and learned about the environmental sustainability measures which have been implemented by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority at its facilities.
The Boston Harbor Association gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the following corporate sponsors for their support of TBHA’s 17th Annual Boston Harbor Celebration and Auction held on 13 April 2010. This support allows The Boston Harbor Association to provide free harbor education programs and field trips for Boston youth, promote a robust water transportation network in Boston Harbor, increase public access and public amenities along the HarborWalk, and work towards an environmentally sustainable Boston Harbor.
22 April 2010 marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. You can make a difference on Boston Harbor Earth Day and everyday by following these simple practices: 1. Reduce water consumption by repairing leaky faucets and running 2. Dispose of trash, including cigarette butts, in trash receptacles 3. On boats, store trash securely and dispose of it when you return 4. Purchase products with minimal packaging. 5. Separate recyclable materials from regular trash. 6. Water lawns only as necessary. 7. Minimize the use of chemicals on lawns and gardens. 8. Do not dump chemicals or other products down storm drains. 9. Always use pump out facilities for boats. 10. Whenever possible, purchase locally-grown produce and products.
On 13 January 2010, TBHA together with WalkBoston led a tour of the newest sites on the HarborWalk between the ICA and the New England Aquarium. At One Marina Park Drive, TBHA Executive Director Vivien Li led attendees into the finished ground floor which one of Newbury Street's most popular stores, Louis Boston, will briefly occupy in early spring 2010. The attendees' attention was directed to the luxurious detail of the lobby, which includes an elaborate floor of imported marble and specially designed ceiling lighting.
The store will stay in the ground floor of the building until construction is completed of a new low-rise building later this year . The building is part of an effort towards generating more activity in the area, and will house several new restaurants and stores in the coming year. The tour also visited the new public green on the Fan Pier, another part of the Fan Pier development project, and viewed an interpretive display of the old rail terminal at the Fan Pier. The last stop on the HarborWalk was the new Marine Mammal Facility at the New England Aquarium, where attendees looked in through the glass walls to see the fur seals.
Thousands greeted the 2010 New Year on Boston's waterfront. The
The celebration began on 31 December at 11:45 a.m. with a dramatic water-display by Massport's fireboat and ended after 12:30 a.m. on New Year's Day when the last passengers disembarked from a special midnight cruise to view the fireworks over Boston Harbor.
From 12 noon to 4 p.m., the public had a rare opportunity to board the Boston Pilot Association's CHELSEA boat and to tour the U.S. Coast Guard's newest response boat, both of which were docked at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse.
Dozens went out for a mid-day cruise on Boston Harbor, while others enjoyed the newest facility of public accommodation at Independence Wharf, and children participated in free craft activities at the Fort Point Arts Community Store. Visitors marveled at ice sculptures at the New England Aquarium, and took advantage of "First Night" discounts at the Aquarium, ICA Museum, Boston Children's Museum, as well as at waterfront hotels including the Boston Harbor Hotel, Fairmont Battery Wharf, InterContinental Boston, Marriott Long Wharf, Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, Seaport Hotel, and Westin Boston Waterfront. Old Town Trolley Tours shuttled First Night button holders around the waterfront, thanks to support from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, while City Water Taxi brought the public from East Boston to Long Wharf/Quincy Market.
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The Boston Harbor Association - 374 Congress Street, Suite 307 - Boston, MA 02210 - 617-482-1722 (P) - 617-482-9750 (F) - mail@tbha.org |
On 29 April, The Boston Harbor Association provided members of the general public with free water transportation to Deer Island, which has nearly five miles of trails and paths for the public to enjoy. All on the trip were first-time visitors, and were surprised by the wonderful views from the island. Interpretative signage was available at key spots on the walking paths, and visitors could see the state-of-the-art treatment facility. 
Many paused at the memorial for Federal Judge David Mazzone, who oversaw the clean up of Boston Harbor, as well as benches dedicated to workers who died during the construction of the Boston Harbor project.
