New park is open to visitors, but a mystery to many
If you drive by the Museum of Science, you can see the lush green lawns and meandering paths peeking out between the stone columns of the MBTA's elevated Green Line tracks. Surrounded on two sides by the merger of the Charles River and Boston Harbor, there's a lovely little verdant oasis improbably wedged between Monsignor O'Brien Highway and Interstate 93 by the Zakim Bridge, within a few hundred yards of a busy sand and gravel pit. Tipster Doug Baird has been intrigued with what he's seen and asked GlobeWatch to find out what's going on and if this park is open.
A visit last week one warm, sunny morning by a Globe reporter found several mothers and toddlers enjoying a large, new playground area. Gravel paths slinking along the water's edge, as well as through wide open lawn areas, were spotless, particularly for a park deep in the city. New benches, offering views of the Zakim and the Charles River, and plentiful trash barrels, appeared untouched by vandals or trash. A wide, divided bike and pedestrian path similar to those along the Esplanade was eerily empty during the reporter's visit.
The state responds
North Point Park, as it's called, is in fact open and has been unofficially open since December, said Mac Daniel, a spokesman for the Mass. Turnpike Authority.
The authority built the 8.5-acre, $27.3 million park as part of a larger plan to restore or create 40 acres of parkland along the Charles between Cambridge and Boston in conjunction with the Central Artery Tunnel project.
It's no surprise then that Baird wasn't sure if North Point Park was ready to go, since, Daniel says, the authority opted to do a "quiet opening" rather than making a formal public announcement or hold a ceremony. In mid-December, City Weekly reported that the park had opened accompanied by "no fanfare, no announcement, not even a welcome sign."
Now that the park is built, the authority will cede responsibility for its maintenance and management to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, said Daniel.
"We turned over North Point Park to DCR for beneficial occupancy and opened in December, as there were remaining punch list items that the contractor needed to complete, mainly replacing the railing along the river and plantings," Daniel writes in an e-mail.
"Cashman [the contractor] has completed most punch-list items but though promised for months, it took until June to get DCR's assessment of the planting punch list from their consultant and arborist. We would like to transfer the park to DCR this summer with the condition that the trees are replaced in fall 2008, since it is too late in the season to tag and replant."
Despite the handover delay, the DCR has been maintaining the park and plans to convert a fallow, vacant lot next to the park into a maintenance facility and do landscaping there, said Wendy Fox, a department spokeswoman.
Turnpike officials have resumed biweekly meetings with DCR after a lull this winter, said Daniel, and the authority will focus on terms of the transfer of North Point Park to DCR once a transfer of Lovejoy Wharf and Prince Street Park is complete.
WHO'S IN CHARGE
Alan LeBovidge, executive director
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
State Transportation Building
10 Park Plaza
Suite 4160
Boston, MA 02116
617-248-2800
