BOSTON (AP) -- The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, a 27-acre corridor of parks on land where the elevated portion of Interstate 93 was torn down and replaced by the Big Dig tunnels, officially opened Monday.
U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, who was among the litany of speakers for the unveiling of the park between Quincy Market and the city's North End neighborhood, recalled his grandfather lamenting that the North End had no grass.
"Well, there's going to be grass," he said, standing in front of neatly trimmed lawns and water fountains. "The children from the North End, the children from Boston will be able to come here and enjoy spending time with their parents, reading a book, having a picnic, watching the magnificent fountains."
Kennedy said his late mother, who died in 1995 at the age of 104, deeply loved the city and its history. She grew up in the North End, the daughter of Mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald.
A year after her death, then-Gov. William Weld signed legislation naming the Greenway in her honor.
The project has had its share of struggles. This year, the plans for an enclosed botanical gardens were dropped because of fundraising problems.
Gov. Deval Patrick called the park a "front porch for the North End."
"I'm happy to add the North End parks to wealth of urban spaces that make Boston the city that it is and the city that it is becoming," he said.
State officials say the remaining wharf parks will officially open in the spring, but said people are already using them.
