BU'S SITE FOR NEW SAILING PAVILION 
POOR CHOICE ACCORDING TO 
INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS

Site analysis identifies two superior sites

Newton, MA... The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) has announced the completion of an independent report that analyzes five potential locations along the Charles River for a new Boston University (BU) sailing pavilion.  CRWA commissioned the environmental consulting firm of Beals and Thomas, Inc. of Southborough, MA to conduct the study.  BU filed legislation last spring that would allow it to occupy a prized 1½ acre site on the Charles River Esplanade near the Sherborn Street footbridge between the BU and Harvard Bridges.  Riverfront parkland is held in trust for the citizens of Massachusetts and any change in use requires a 2/3rds vote by the Massachusetts Legislature.  Under the legislation, BU would control this land for the next 20 years, on which it plans to construct a massive 25-foot high, 14,280-square foot facility. 

  Beals and Thomas concluded that two sites in this section of the Charles River Basin -- one on the water downstream of the MIT boathouse on the Cambridge side of the river, closer to the Harvard Bridge, and one near Charlesgate on the Boston Esplanade-- are far superior locations for protecting the public trust nature of this historic and cherished parkland.  In contrast, BU’s chosen site on the widest lobe of parkland, an area heavily used by the public, with scenic views of the river and the Boston skyline, was the worst location under the public interest criteria Beals and Thomas developed. 

In reaching this conclusion, the study evaluated each site’s impacts on parkland users (visual impacts to and from the site, user displacement, and pedestrian flow and safety), historic district considerations (parkland character and the interconnectivity of these lands), and river use patterns.  Beals and Thomas also considered the private interests of BU: suitability for sailboat launching (views for supervision, water depth, and combined sewer overflow locations); BU user access; soils, sediments and utilities; and transportation and traffic issues.  A public meeting in October on Beals and Thomas’s preliminary findings confirmed the importance to residents of the public interest criteria and the stretch of parkland sought by BU.  

“BU should welcome this study because it shows that a new sailing facility can be built at a location good for the university sailing program and more protective of the public interests,” said Robert L. Zimmerman, Jr., CRWA’s Executive Director.  “The sites now proposed by BU simply can’t do this and its claim to the contrary is not credible.”  

  Last week BU filed its draft environmental impact report (EIR), required for all major development projects, with the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA).  BU’s EIR rejects the Beals and Thomas study and asserts that the only suitable boathouse locations are on the Esplanade, either slightly to the west, or to the east, but on the same stretch of valuable open space on which it has sought to build from the beginning.

“We knew BU would not perform an unbiased, credible analysis of alternative sites.  Thanks to the Beals and Thomas study, the public and our legislators now know there are real options that can accommodate BU’s needs while protecting the Charles River Esplanade for generations to come,” said Zimmerman.  The Executive Summary and the full text of the Beals and Thomas report are available on CRWA’s website at www.charlesriver.org.  The EOEA currently invites public comments on the draft EIR.

  CRWA has been working closely with Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods, Bay State Road Neighborhood Association, Beacon Hill Civic Association, Boston GreenSpace Alliance, Boston University Environmental Students Organization, Charles River Conservancy, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Esplanade Association, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Neighborhood Association of Back Bay, and Representative Paul Demakis to ensure that the public’s interest is of paramount concern in the siting of a new boathouse.

Founded in 1965, CRWA is an environmental non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the health, beauty, and public accessibility of the Charles River.