If you’ve ever walked along the waterfront in South Boston or participated in a beach cleanup at Carson Beach, you’ve likely seen Moakley Park. At 60 acres, it is Boston’s largest waterfront park and one of the largest active recreation areas in the city.
Being one of the most heavily utilized parks in the city, it takes many hands to keep the park clean. Partnering with the City of Boston, Boston Harbor Now organizes regular cleanups of the park. Just this year, more than 100 volunteers have collected and removed 300 pounds of trash and natural debris!
The park is not just getting cleaner— it’s also going to get a major facelift. Today, the park floods regularly. Even a little rain inundates the playing fields, and flood waters can also affect the communities around it during a major storm or Nor’easter.
To ensure the park is usable today, after a rain event, and in the future as sea levels rise, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD) is creating a comprehensive redesign to stop the flooding, add more community gathering areas, and update the recreational facilities.
Over the past seven years, BPRD has engaged in community outreach through in-person and virtual open houses, surveys, attendance at community events, one-on-one interviews, and focus group meetings. The project team will continue to take input on the redesign of Moakley Park over the next 18 months.
If you’re interested in following Moakley’s renovation progress, visit the Resilient Moakley website and sign up for their newsletter. You can also attend an in-person or virtual Resilient Moakley Park Community Workshop. If you’re interested in participating in cleanups, be on the lookout for more volunteer opportunities coming in the spring.
