The Trustees of Reservations has received official site developer designation from Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) to transform the 3.6-acre pier in East Boston adjacent to Piers Park and Piers Park II into a signature waterfront destination, Piers Park III.
Today’s announcement follows several months of collaboration with Massport under an RFP and site assessment process, and a July 16 vote from its Board of Directors. The Trustees has hired world-renowned landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA) to lead the park design process.
The Trustees Boston Waterfront Initiative, One Waterfront, began meeting with neighborhood associations and community groups this fall, with outreach continuing throughout the project.
“With the naming of the landscape architect, East Boston’s newest park is one step closer,” said Massport CEO Lisa Wieland. “The collaboration between The Trustees, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. and the East Boston Pier PAC (Project Advisory Committee) on a design will benefit the entire community and we look forward to this next phase of the project.”
Today, the Piers Park III parcel sits on an abandoned pier adjacent to Piers Park and Piers Park II—a site currently in the design phase with Massport and the Piers PAC. Piers Park, 6.5 acres of green space, opened to the public in 1995. The Trustees will draw on more than a century of expertise in public open space management to deliver an iconic new park for all to enjoy.
Celebrating and complementing existing planned parks, Piers Park III can take full advantage of its unique East Boston location, providing the community and park visitors with a stunning experience of the New England coastline and new green infrastructure that will contribute to the protection of this vulnerable waterfront.
“We are thrilled to be working with the Trustees and Massport to develop a resilient waterfront park in East Boston,” says Michael Van Valkenburgh, founder and Partner at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. “Our hope is to create a public landscape that offers all of Boston—and especially people in East Boston—a rugged spit of land with soft watery edges that jut into the harbor, allowing everyone to feel the sea.”
“Today, as we work to carry on and expand upon our legacy and our Boston roots, we approach another critical turning point for the city,” says Nick Black, managing director of the Boston Waterfront Initiative. “Booming development pushes ever outward toward the harbor while the effects of climate change inundate our shores, and what little remains as open and green space is under threat of disappearing forever.”
“ One Waterfront will build on the strides made by our City since those early days and move closer to achieving Boston’s centuries-long ambition: To be the world class city on a hill—and one that will be here for many more hundreds of years.”
Building on the community conversations underway, additional public input sessions will include virtual neighborhood meetings, online feedback opportunities, and virtual public workshops, to ensure that any park designs are equitable, accessible, and align with current needs and neighborhood concerns. The Waterfront Ambassadors, the Boston Waterfront Initiative’s youth employment program for local teens, will also be engaged in this work beginning next year.
To follow the park progress and sign up for updates or to send feedback, visit onewaterfront.thetrustees.org/pp3.