Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link

Moakley Park
At the northeast end of Columbia Road, the street
wraps into the Kosciuszko Circle rotary, where it
continues along the western edge of Moakley
Park. Moakley Park is about sixty acres of green
space, primarily comprised of athletic fields and
open lawns, nestled between Carson Beach and
about 1,500 public housing units. Bounding the
park to the west is the Mary Ellen McCormack
development and the northern edge is mostly
fronted by the Old Colony development. Both
public housing developments are undergoing
major reconstruction into mixed-use, mixed-income
projects. Along with being the convergence
of South Boston and the sea, Moakley park is
the meeting point of multiple city initiatives; this
convergence of waterfront climate resilience,
open space access, and the redevelopment of the
Mary Ellen McCormack and Old Colony housing
complexes, all helped initiate the Moakley Park
Vision Plan process.
(and led by a different team of organizers) it
will be interesting to observe how it will engage
and impact the residents of the Columbia Road
corridor.
The City of Boston Parks and Recreation is working
with the Environmental Department to plan
Moakley’s future. The first step in this process was
a visioning effort, where as of spring 2019, the
City had hosted a series of four public meetings
and events meant to solicit public input. The City
began with two community meetings, where
attendees were asked to explain how they use
the park currently, and what they would like
to see in the rehabilitated public space. The
third step in the planning process was a free
celebratory event called “DISCOVER Moakley!”,
where attendees were invited to participate in
recreational activities, listen to live music, play
with a beach-themed inflatable installation, learn
about resilient landscapes, and explore some
possibilities for the future of Moakley Park. The
event was co-organized by Boston Parks and
Recreation, Greenovate Boston, Save the Harbor/
Save the Bay, Boston Harbor Now, The Trust for
Public Land, and the Department of Conservation
and Recreation. 29 Similar to the process around
Franklin Park, the planning process around Moakley
is an opportunity to strengthen physical and social
connections with the Columbia Road corridor.
Seeing as this process is more oriented towards
recreational opportunities and climate resilience
29 Whitesides et al., “The Vision Plan for Boston’s Moakley Park.”
58 Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link