Boston Hailed as East Coast Champ in Urban Mega Park Building

(LJT) Boston - There was a time, mostly in the 1970s, and all through the eighties and early 90s, most people traveling to Boston would not linger to take in the sites. How times have changed. The construction of a new urban park on a island, notoriously used as a landfill, located in Boston Harbor, as well as, the cleanup of the Harbor itself, has reinvented Boston as the East Coast's Green Capital. The addendum construction of a sewage treatment plant on nearby Deer Island and the abatement of sewage discharges from combined sewer overflows has significantly improved water quality in the harbor and transformed the sites of Boston's Harbor Islands and Spectacle Island itself. The landfill is now capped with 30 feet [nine meters] of dirt from the excavation of the highway tunnel in Boston's massive Central Artery/Tunnel project - the “Big Dig.” As part of the environmental remediation effort, the island has been vegetated with native and non-native plant species and the large urban park is networked with five miles of bike paths and hiking trails. In addition, five-acres of artificial reefs were created east of the island.

It took twenty years of dispute settlement, constant dialogue and compromise with varied agenices, non profits and island stake holders, a consortium called 'The Partnership'. The outcome of this 'partnership' has transformed an urban eyesore into a beautiful large island park in the center of Boston Harbor and provided a lesson on water and health issues and compromise for any city considering a large scale urban park revitalization effort.


Because the Partnership is comprised of federal, state, local and private sector organizations, an advisory council (made up of members appointed by the National Park Service) learned through years of rough patches to work together to implement the park's General Management Plan, which has a 15 to 20 year outlook. The National Park Service does not own the park lands, rather the islands have remained in the hands of municipal, state, or institutional owners and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Following the milestone event of opening Spectacle Island to the public, the Partnership plans to continue to work toward enhancing the harbor island experience for visitors by upgrading infrastructure and improving access for the disabled. Major projects planned include rehabilitating the buildings of Fort Andrews, built around 1900, on Peddocks Island. The National Park Service is beginning to do inventory of island resources to determine the appropriate level of use.
For a tour of the islands, ferry schedules and information for educators visit www.bostonislands.org.
PRESS CONTACTS

Mitch Apodaca
Line Jumper Talents Group
INFO@LINEJUMPERTALENTS.COM
Phone (888)477-9241/Fax (323) 559-2256

This press release was issued through GroupWeb EmailWire.Com. For more information on press release distribution, go to www.emailwire.com.
Powered by:www.bangshowbiz.biz
Fax: +353 1 4100 980


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For More Information on Boston's Big Green and urban parks and related water filtration issues: see




http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/24/us/24boston.html

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/getaways/07/26/spectacle.island.ap/index.html

http://www.gulfofmaine.org/times/fall2006/bostonharbor.html