Help us make the Fort Point Channel even better

Good Morning! 

 

Thank you so much for your interest, participation and support for our efforts to activate the Fort Point Channel by transforming its watersheet into an extraordinary “water commons” with multi-generational and multi-cultural events and activities that welcome all Bostonians from every neighborhood in the city, and the region’s residents and visitors alike. 

 

I have attached a short comment letter with our thoughts on how to make that happen based on what we heard at the listening sessions and our twenty years of experience hosting free events and programs on the Channel, the waterfront and the region’s public beaches.  

 

I hope you will sign on to this letter by emailing “yes” to info@savetheharbor.org by June 1st. 

 

You can also share your thoughts by completing a short survey, which you can complete online in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Chinese. 

 

Thanks again for your time and attention. You can reach me anytime with questions or comments by email to mancini@savetheharbor.org or on my cell at (617) 909-6667. 

Chris Mancini 

Chris Mancini 

Executive Director, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay 

Co-Chair, Fort Point Channel Working Group  

 

PS. You can review the project documents and watch recordings of the sessions here.

June 1, 2022 

To:  Daniel Padien, Waterways Program Chief, Mass DEP 

       Richard McGuiness, Deputy Director of Climate Change and Environmental Planning, BPDA 

       Stephen Faber, Executive Vice President, Related Beal 

       Olivia Sherry, Vice President, Development, Related Beal 

 

 

I am writing to you today as the Executive Director of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay to thank you for asking Save the Harbor to coordinate and host the recent “Listening Sessions” on watersheet activation strategies for the Fort Point Channel. 

 

More than 150 people from nearly every neighborhood in the city took part in the sessions, including representatives of more than two dozen non-profit youth development and community groups. The vast majority of those who attended the sessions had not previously participated in the recent planning efforts for the Seawall Basin or the Channel. They brought great ideas to the discussion and should be included going forward. 

 

Based on 20 years of participation in the planning process for the Channel and the watersheet, what we heard at the listening sessions and our extensive experience hosting free events and programs on the Channel, the waterfront and the region’s public beaches, here are a few of our thoughts which we hope will inform the both the City and the State planning process going forward. 

 

Our overarching goal is to transform the watersheet and the water’s edge into an extraordinary “water commons” with four seasons of multi-generational and multi-cultural events and healthy outdoor activities that welcome and include all Bostonians from every neighborhood in the city, and the region’s residents and visitors alike. 

 

These should include art on the channel and art on the shore, by artists from every neighborhood in the city as well as projects by artists of national or international acclaim such as Ayse Erkman’s temporary underwater footbridge “On Water” or 3D waterscreens like those by the UK design team LCI which were featured in a nighttime spectacular in Branson, Missouri. 

 

 They should also include free STEM, STEAM and Environmental Education programs for youth and teens from every neighborhood in the City, which create “Touch the Water” moments that create new generations of stewards to serve as “Channel Ambassadors” connecting their communities to this great public place. 

 

We would like to see expanded access for recreational boating and fishing, including kayaking, SUP, and small boats like dories and paddleboats, with free programs for underserved and low-income youth and teens, as well as market rate rentals and instructions. The harbor’s youth sailing centers at Piers Park in East Boston and Courageous Sailing in Charlestown (and Community Boating on the Charles River) provide proven models that work to connect kids and communities to the water. 

 

We would also like to see free movie nights, concerts and performances on the channel, as well as signature festivals that can help define the channel as a truly welcoming place.  

 

To succeed this ambitious program will require significant capital investment in permanent and resilient structures including a “boathouse” and launch ramp as well as a flexible system of docks and floats, which can support all sorts of on the water programs – including movie nights, concerts, Dragon Boat Races, Fire & Ice Festivals, wakeboarding competitions, light shows, or opera. 

 

To ensure that planning and governance is truly inclusive, and that programming opportunities are shared equitably, we’d like to see the membership in the operations board expanded to include representatives from non-profit, youth development and community groups from across the city, including  people of color, people with disabilities, and people who do not speak English as their primary language. 

 

Thanks again for the opportunity to help shape the future of the Channel, the Waterfront and our capital city. 

 

All the best, 

Chris Mancini 

Chris Mancini 

Executive Director, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay 

Co-Chair, Fort Point Channel Working Group