EBOL ARCHIVE
by Frank Conte
Editor, East Boston OnLine
C ruise ships, a museum, a maritime academy, open space, water transit and small ship repair piers are among the many ideas bubbling up from the East Boston side of the harbor these days.
After years of neglect, the remaining unused East Boston waterfront is virtually hot property. Declining industries such as naval ship repair and seafood have left parcels fallow over the last two decades. However, the opening of new $17 million park, a new ferry service and the Big Dig have once again drawn attention to East Boston.
 |
Approximately
50 acres of underdeveloped waterfront land still rests in
East Boston, most of it owned by either the Boston
Redevelopment Authority or the Massachusetts Port
Authority. Some of the land also lies on the banks of the
Chelsea Creek often lined with oil tanks and small
boatyards. Both agencies are taking a hard look the waterfront land trying to figure out how to spark private interest in other parts of the harbor some of which have the best view of the downtown skyline. "We have a port of Boston that is under a tremendous transformation," Ralph Cox, Massport's maritime director told an audience of East Boston residents last month. "There's tremendous pressure on us and the economy at large to better service it." |
But unlike the past where East Boston fought pitched battles against uncaring public agencies, neighborhood activists find they have mutual interests with the BRA and Massport. Both sides have met and plan to establish workshops that develop several ideas. A final report was scheduled for release in December 1995.
"I was kind of skeptical of the BRA/Massport marriage at first," says Edith DeAngelis, a longtime open space advocate. "Listening to them you find that they've been listening to us. It's been 30 years, but they're listening."
DeAngelis still believes in developing East Boston's waterfront with an eye for open space which she says "can go hand in hand with economic development." She hopes that a citizen proposal to link all of East Boston's open spaces called the Greenway Project can be part of the Port of Boston plan.
However, neither the BRA nor Massport has any fixed plan thus far although there are many prospects. The challenge, says Cox, is how best to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Capturing the emerging cruise ship market could be one option not ruled out by residents. When it comes to cruise ships, the Boston Harbor trails ports of call such as New York and Miami says Cox. But as one of the fastest growing travel industries, some cruise ships could find their way back into the Boston Harbor and possibly in East Boston which is home to deep water Pier 1 or 3. Larger ships do pose a problem for East Boston, however.
"When you are looking at East Boston you are looking at a street system that really can't accommodate truck traffic that might be brought on by heavier industry," Linda Haar, the BRA's planning and zoning director told residents last month. "What we heard quite clearly was that is not what you want to see happening."
For East Boston that might mean smaller schooners that wouldn't require heavy support in the form of trucks and buses like the cruise liners that currently dock at the Black Falcon pier in South Boston.
"East Boston can't support heavy maritime usage, but I'd hate to see them lose all of it," notes Robert Loiacono, owner of the Welding and Engineering Company and president of the East Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Loiacono, who employs three people in his shop, stresses that it's important to preserve the few waterfront-related jobs that remain."As someone who has worked on the East Boston waterfront for 20 years, we cannot just throw away industrial uses."
That sentiment isn't lost upon the BRA and Massport. Almost every vessel -- from oil tankers to water ferries -- depend on small business without which the harbor would die. "We don't want to squeeze out the people who are critical to our waterfront operations," said Martin Sokoloff, a consulting architect working with the BRA and Massport.
Planners are also entertaining an idea for a "living museum" which has been talked about for years in East Boston. Such as museum would exhibit historical artifacts dating back to the times of Native Americans
Fran Riley, a youth program supervisor and activist, has long pushed for a maritime academy that could be tied in with a museum.
"This isn't about us," declared Riley in making a passionate plea for alternative education in East Boston at last month's meeting. "If anyone in this room dares to be that selfish to think this is about us you are sadly mistaken...There's an educational piece that goes along with that museum." Some residents would like to see housing on the waterfront. "No one has really talked about luxury housing which will bring rich people into the community who'll be able to spend their money like they do in Charlestown and the North End," noted Ronald Catena, another local activist.
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