By Scott Allen, Globe Staff
The old fort on Peddocks Island looks like a faded college campus, its rows of gracious brick buildings shaded by tall maple and oak trees. Italian prisoners were kept here during World War II; they seldom tried to escape, and they were rewarded with shopping trips to Boston's North End.
Today, vandals rule the roost at Fort Andrews, setting fires, breaking windows, and creeping around inside historic structures that have been closed to the public for years. After years of deliberate destruction and harsh weather, the hospital and other buildings have decayed beyond repair.
But the deteriorating fort may be reborn as a ``family resort,'' complete with inns, restaurants, and retail shops, as part of the new Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. A rescue center for abandoned seals and other marine mammals could go down by the water, with a campground not far off.
``We're talking about big things on Peddocks,'' says Barbara Mackey of the National Park Service, who is writing the management plan for the unusual two-year-old national recreation area.
After 26 years as an overlooked state park, the islands of Boston Harbor are the place for big dreams again now that the once filthy harbor is getting clean. Congress named the 30 islands to the national park system in 1996, elevating them at a stroke from former dumping ground to national treasure.
Now, the owners of the islands _ five public agencies and one private entity _ are managing the park jointly with conservationists, businesses, and the National Park Service. This Boston Harbor Islands Partnership, as the group is called, got precious little money from Congress, yet members are certain they can quadruple the number of island visitors, to 500,000 a year, in the years to come.
But there's no consensus on what those visitors will find on the islands. Even before the first business opens, public and private officials are debating a basic question: How much development can they allow without ruining the islands' original appeal?
Under the emerging park plan, due late next year, Spectacle Island and Peddocks, the third largest harbor island, would become major public attractions, along with the current state park headquarters on Georges Island. Other islands might one day host conference centers or education facilities, and public ferries would visit perhaps a dozen islands instead of the five they now serve.
Already, a new $2 million pier on Peddocks and heavy construction on Spectacle Island, Boston's former dump, signal the changing times. But some business and nonprofit groups, sensing major opportunities, are imagining more boldly, seeing a future of bed and breakfasts, concert stages, museums, shopping areas, perhaps even a water slide.
Purists, including several of the city, state, and park service officials involved in planning, would like the islands to remain much as they are, a curious mix of the historical and the natural where people can find splendid isolation at the edge of a city of half a million.
For them, the key to the park's success is making sure the islands are safe and accessible to an urban audience that may not be able to afford a getaway to more exotic locales. Once on the islands, visitors can explore the old forts and lighthouses, swim and picnic, or take in quirky attractions such as the wild rabbit colony on Lovell.
``It's not that we're a bunch of stodgy people, but think about what we've got,'' says Rick Lombardi of the Department of Environmental Protection, who thinks of the islands as a natural treasure on a par with the Grand Canyon. ``We are not going to take our islands ... and turn them into Route 1.''
On the other side, some businesses and nonprofits that will be counted on to develop the new park argue that the islands are not ready for prime time: They need commercial enterprises, such as an arts center or shopping area, if they are to draw large numbers. Currently, the islands have exactly one business, a state-run snack bar on Georges. ``A lot of people anticipate more. ... That's the one big complaint,'' says Rick Nolan of Boston Harbor Cruises, which provides island ferry service. ``You could have a little Au Bon Pain out there.''
The Island Alliance, the private fundraising arm of the park, has the most ambitious agenda. The group, which includes BankBoston and other businesses, hopes to raise $2 million a year to fund the park. The alliance plan calls for six islands to become major public destinations, four of which they would like to help
develop. Alliance members want Spectacle to be a lively gateway to the park, with concessions, a new beach, an amphitheater, and maybe that water slide. The alliance is also behind the idea of making Fort Andrews a family-oriented resort.
The difference between the two sides is a matter of degree _ everyone agrees that most small islands should be left alone, for instance _ but it may become more stark as park management tries to fix costly problems. Several islands need piers for ferry boats, while Outward Bound, which owns Thompson Island, has requested a $5 million payment in return for a guarantee the land won't be developed. So far, no one has found a way to cover the tens of millions in construction costs that the park is expected to require, to say nothing of an annual budget of perhaps $8 million for running the park. The Harbor Islands Partnership could find itself considering a controversial amusement center just to pay the bills.
``The one thing that everybody agrees on is that the islands are a treasure and we shouldn't screw them up,'' says Linda Haar of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, who is chairwoman of the partnership's development committee.
That the islands of Boston Harbor are there at all, more or less unspoiled, is something of a miracle. The sand and rock residue of retreating glaciers, the islands served as a kind of urban backyard for all manner of unpleasant activities _ horse rendering at the glue factory, trash disposal, gambling, prostitution, a quarantine hospital, and internment camps for Native Americans in the 17th century and Irish immigrants in the 19th century.
But the rough treatment kept permanent residents away, creating a kind of urban wilderness where nature bears the intriguing scars of centuries of city living. The Boston Harbor Islands, which were designated a state park in 1972, weren't everyone's cup of tea, but they were a magnet for the adventurous.
``What a secret,'' says Cathy Hickey, one of 30 or so who braved the lack of drinking water, a long boat ride, and the hassles of getting a camping permit for the privilege of watching the sun go down behind Boston's office towers from Lovell Island on a hot July night. ``You can only know about it if you camp here.''
When Congress created the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, many expected rapid change would come, perhaps bringing running water or concession stands to places such as Lovell. But two years later, park services are mainly limited to Georges Island, with its historic Civil War fort where Confederate spies and soldiers were once held. Eighty percent of the 125,000 annual park visitors come for the day to Georges because the island has a fort to explore, a simple snack bar, running water, and bathroom facilities. Four other islands can be reached by public ferries, but there are no amenities on them except portable toilets.
``It's exactly the way it was when I was out here in 1979,'' says a dismayed Katherine Abbott, the director of the Island Alliance, which is trying to draw new people to the islands through events such as a hoped-for show inside Fort Warren on Georges Island that would be part rock concert, part light display.
Rapid change was unlikely, though, in a park run by a hybrid of city, state, federal, and private groups, none of which has a pot of money. Congress has counted on the Island Alliance to raise private money, allowing the Park Service to put up $1 for every $3 from private donors and local governments.
And the National Park Service is more interested in the 21st century than in the current shortcomings of the park. ``We can't let ourselves get too focused on solving the immediate problems because we have to keep focused on the long term,'' says Mackey, the park service planner.
Mackey is particularly concerned that the public get a chance to debate the character of the park _ more commercial or more natural? _ before the plan is approved. Toward that end, her team will produce two alternative plans this fall, one that emphasizes nature and preservation of historic sites, a second that considers more diverse recreational opportunities.
Even before the plans are out, though, island watchers are acutely aware of which islands are likely to see big changes first: Spectacle and Peddocks.
Spectacle, the highest point on the harbor, is the closest thing to a blank slate among the islands, since its entire landscape is new fill covering the former dump. The state and city have already attracted several groups that want to develop an education center for urban youths, a marina, and an amphitheater. In addition, the state Highway Department will provide water, sewer, and electric links to the mainland, as well as a pier and headquarters building, under a $5 million park plan.
But the would-be developers' plans remain very general and don't address the more controversial ideas such as a saltwater slide. For instance, the New England Aquarium, part of a team of potential developers on Spectacle, is considering ``everything from running kayak trips to education programs,'' according to vice president for operations Greg Ketchen.
Peddocks Island faces thornier issues than Spectacle, such as the damaged buildings of Fort Andrews and the lack of water and sewer lines, but its 188-acre size and scant public use make it a candidate for development.
Last summer, the private Councilors of Real Estate began analyzing the Fort Andrews buildings for their development potential, while New England Aquarium officials have scouted the island for a possible marine mammal rescue center, which the aquarium needs to relocate from Central Wharf.
Meanwhile, longtime observers know only too well all the island dreams, from grandiose casinos to indoor plumbing, that have died in the bureaucratic muck over the years. Before the national park designation, there were state plans in 1972 and 1986 that were never carried out for lack of funds.
``My staff is skeptical. Right now, it's just `Show us the money,''' says Holly Richardson, island manager for the Metropolitan District Commission. ``We already have a lot of management plans. What we're looking for is the resources.''` Yet, if the national recreation area turns out to be a paper tiger, people who like it now, warts and all, may not be that upset. Jerry Mackin of Weymouth, riding out to Georges Island in July to see 200 Civil War reenactors, may have spoken for many when he says he prefers the islands just the way they are.
``We're blinded. We think we've got to go to Bar Harbor or Ogunquit to see something pretty. This beats it all,'' he says.
Scott Allen is an environmental reporter for the Globe.
