East
Boston - Chelsea Creek Action Group Meeting scheduled for July 14 at Harborside EBOL Public Documents from the East Boston Chelsea Creek Action Group Disclaimer: In an effort to foster a better informed citizenry regarding local affairs, East Boston OnLine (EBOL) provides these documents in electronic form as a public service. EBOL bears no responsibility for typographical errors. Contact the document writers for hard copies. Some documents have been scanned using an Apple Scanner and OmniPage OCR software. Others have been obtained through e-mail and cut and pasted here. Please send comments and suggestions to editor@eastboston.com For Immediate
Release "Would you like to see a waterfront park along the Chelsea Creek?" Chris Tauson and Nancei Radicchi, both members of the East Boston-Chelsea Creek Action Group (EB-CCAG), milled about at a recent concert in the O'Donnell Schoolyard, asking this question. They also let people know that everyone is welcome to attend a series of design workshops with a professional landscape architect to give their ideas about what the park will look like, and what features it should contain. The first workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 9th at 6:30 P.M. at the Harborside Community Center/Umana Barnes; refreshments and childcare will be provided. The site for the new park is the Condor Street Urban Wild, otherwise known as the "Tides", or to many, just the land across the street from the "City Yards"(the American Legion Playground). No matter what they call it, everyone is happy to hear that the Boston Parks and Recreation Department is working with the community to clean-up, re-design and open the park for community use. In 1979, this site was designated an "Urban Wild" - or a passive park (that means that there can be no ball fields, but there could be benches, pathways for walking, a ecological study area, kiosks, boat launches, and other features). However, the site has remained closed off to the community since it is contaminated from waste dumped by previous owners. EB-CCAG, working with the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), has been sponsoring monthly meetings since July 1998 to work on the clean-up and improvement of many sites on the East Boston shores of the Chelsea River, in particular the Urban Wild and Hess site. The Parks Department is excited about the possibilities for the site and working with the community. They believe that it will be open for public use sometime in the year 2000. In April, over 50 East Boston and Chelsea residents, along with government officials attended "Take a Peek at Chelsea Creek" where Mayor Menino announced that the City would be cleaning up the Condor Street Urban Wild, and restoring it to a natural area/park. The City also announced that the Cabot Foundation is contributing funds to support a landscape architect firm - Hargreaves Associates, which will be providing their services at a reduced fee. Lucy DelMuto, an Eagle Hill resident, told the crowd how kids used to go down there to swim at "Duncan Beach" "even though there was oil floating on the water". Many people recall playing down at the river, and look forward to the day when children and families can reach the water's edge to explore, enjoy a natural area and watch boats pass by.
The design workshops are sponsored by the Boston Parks Department, NOAH, EB-CCAG and the Campaign for the Water's Edge (CWE). CWE, via the Watershed Institute, is also providing legal and other assistance to EB-CCAG and is working with the East Boston High School on a field ecology program where the students will conduct research at the renovated Condor Street Urban Wild.
Again, the first design workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 9th at 6:30 at the Harborside Community Center/Umana Barnes. The second design workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, July 14th, and the third, sometime in August or September. For more information about the design workshops or EB-CCAG, call Stacey Chacker at NOAH, 569-0059 ext. 13. Related web pages on EB-CCAG on EBOL: Minutes from April 12, Meeting posted on EBOL on
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