Boston Flora

Tag: Charlesgate Alliance

  • Happy New Year

    I questioned what to write on January 1. A simple Happy New Year with a good photo would be sufficient. As a committed environmentalist, however, I’d like to encourage all who read this, regardless of political affiliation, to pledge to step up your climate activist game in 2026. Think globally, act locally has never been more important. There are many Massachusetts not for profit groups which can use your volunteer hours and/or donations. There are the obvious ones, the botanic gardens, Trustees of Reservations, and park friends groups, and some which may be less well known, like Save Our Rivers, Mass Parks for All, and The New Garden Society. If you’d like to help with legal challenges, go to The Conservation Law Foundation and pledge your support. Write to your elected officials and encourage them to act in everyone’s best interest, whether your particular interest is preserving forests and farmland, rivers and oceans, clean energy, Monarch butterflies, song birds, seed diversity (Native Plant Trust’s Seed Ark comes to mind) or increased funding for local parks and green spaces. Don’t forget the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, The Charlesgate Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, and your town’s parks departments. Federal funding for all these groups, and many more, has been cut drastically. Do your research, and do your best. Enjoy the outdoors. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year! Photo courtesy of Laura Bern Interiors.

  • Saturdays, December 6 & 13, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm – Charlesgate Park Walking Tours

    For the first time in sixty years, Charlesgate Park is being reconnected to Boston’s Greenspace Network. Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek and Parker James of the Charlesgate Alliance for a guided tour through Charlesgate Park, the pivotal 13-acre link uniting the Emerald Necklace, the Esplanade, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Meet at the corner of Charlesgate East and Beacon Street. RSVP at https://emeraldnecklace.org.

  • Sunday, June 22, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Season Opening, Charlesgate Farmers Market

    Join The Charlesgate Alliance and the Charlesgate Farmers Market on Sundays, June 22 – October 12, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm, for the popular Farmers Market. Support local farmers, small businesses, and musicians. Entering its second year, the event has been a success and fills a community need for fresh food and friendship.

  • Thursday, June 5, 3:00 pm – Tree Dedication at Charlesgate Park

    Join the Charlesgate Alliance on Thursday, June 5 at 3 pm as they dedicate fourteen new trees, seven of which are honoring the inspirational Fran Gershwin of the Muddy River Restoration Project (MMOC.). We will be meeting in the Grove section of Charlesgate Park, bounded by Charlesgate East and Beacon Street. This tree planting has been made possible by lead grants from the Boston Red Sox and Berklee College of Music, plus hundreds of individual donors. Rain date is Friday, June 6 at 3 pm.

  • Wednesday, April 24, 6:30 pm – Informational Meeting About the Charlesgate Farmers Market

    The Charlesgate Farmers Market will be held in DCR Charlesgate Park at Commonwealth Avenue between Charlesgate East and Charlesgate West. The market hours will be on Sundays between 11 am and 2 pm on Sundays, beginning June 23 through October 13. There will be an informational meeting for the neighborhood on April 24 at 6:30 pm at 400 Commonwealth Avenue.

  • Saturday, May 13, 2:00 pm – Free Tour of Charlesgate Park

    This past November, MassDOT held a public announcement that funding had been secured for two bridge projects the Bowker Overpass. While the designs are not yet ready for public comment, the Charlesgate Alliance, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and the Esplanade Association have partnered to advocate for the greenest possible outcomes for these transformational projects.

    Promised outcomes include removing the offramp over the Muddy River at Charlesgate East and Commonwealth Avenue and, in collaboration with our partners at the Esplanade Association, daylighting the terminus of the Muddy River as it enters the Charles. These two MassDOT improvements will act as bookends as we work to improve the heart of the park between the Mass. Turnpike and Beacon Street. Join us on a free tour of Charlesgate Park about the vision for its future on Saturday, May 13 at 2:00 pm.

    Register  here so that we can get a head count and tell you if a rain cancellation occurs.

    Tours start in The Grove area of the park (just in from the NW corner of Beacon St. and Charlesgate East), where we planted new trees last June. Look for buds on the maple trees! Allow two hours for the complete tour. Below is an image of the area circa 1954, for reference.

  • Saturday, October 1, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Meet & Greet with Charlesgate Alliance

    The Charlesgate Alliance invites you to a Meet & Greet with neighbors from Back Bay, Kenmore, and Fenway with signature cocktails, wine, beer and hors d’oeuvre on Saturday, October 1 from 5:30 – 7:30 at Cornwall’s at 644 Beacon Street in Boston. Limited capacity so register early. $50. Purchase your tickets at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/event/charlesgate-alliance-meet-greet/

  • Tuesday, June 28, 9:30 am – 11:30 am (Rain Date June 29, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm) – Charlesgate Alliance Tree Dedication

    Representatives from the Charlesgate Alliance, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Landing Studio, elected officials, as well as our partner organizations the Esplanade Association and Friends of the Public Garden will be on hand to join the celebration. 

    Tuesday, June 28th, from 9:30-11:30am

    Rain date:
    Wednesday, June 29th, from 1:30-3:30pm

    This achievement, more than a year in the making, and stewarded from start to finish by Garden Club of the Back Bay Past President Margaret Pokorny in conjunction with Dan and Marie Law Adams of Landing Studio, has given the Charlesgate area its first new trees in many years.

    The dedication will take place in The Grove area of Charlesgate Park, where 14 of the 15 new trees were planted. You can reach the area at the terminus of Marlborough Street and Charlesgate East, bounded on the north by Beacon Street.

    With the addition of the new trees, recently refurbished DCR lighting, and red chair seasonal seating, the Grove is starting to look like the park it was always meant to be.

  • Tree Sponsorship Opportunity in The Grove

    The Charlesgate Alliance is planting fifteen new trees this spring. After clearing the Boston Conservation Commission hearing on April 6th, they are now working with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Cambridge Landscape to plant 15 new trees, mainly in The Grove area of the park where they will not be disturbed by construction in the coming years. These trees were chosen by Landing Studio with an eye both toward the location near the river as well as our larger plan for the park, where we hope to plant roughly 150 more. This will be a significant improvement: the first new trees planted in Charlesgate in many years. The Alliance in conjunction with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy will maintain the trees in perpetuity. So far we have 9 trees sponsored at $3,000 a tree. You can therefore sponsor a tree for $3,000 or just make a contribution toward the tree project. Only 6 trees are left for funding, although a contribution can be allocated to the next planting cycle if response is overwhelming. If you would like to help with this exciting program, click here and note that it is for the tree planting. You can also mail a check to Charlesgate Alliance c/o Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 350 Jamaicaway, Boston, MA 02130

  • Tuesday, November 30, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Conversations with Olmsted: Challenges and Opportunities for Olmsted Parks, Online

    Olmsted 200 invites you to join the fourth webinar in our Conversations with Olmsted series. In this series, we examine different aspects of Olmsted’s far-reaching influence on America’s physical landscape and social fabric, exploring how best to continue his legacy of parks for all people.

    Parks and public spaces face more challenges and threats than ever before. In some cases, development has nearly destroyed these historic landscapes, altering them with highways, towers, and more. Unfortunately, once open spaces are gone, they’re gone forever. 

    In the age of the pandemic, our nation’s parks and open green spaces have served as places of healthful recreation and respite – but they are not self-sustaining, and greater use has meant greater demand for care and attention, often with far smaller budgets. 

    This November 30 panel discussion will be moderated by Stephanie Crockatt, executive director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a member of the NAOP Olmsted Network. The panel will explore the threats and opportunities facing Olmsted parks and how to protect these natural and historic assets for future generations. 

    Panelists include:

    • Charles Birnbaum FASLA, FAAR,  President, CEO, and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), a founding partner of Olmsted 200. Before creating TCLF, Birnbaum spent fifteen years at the National Park Service Historic Landscape Initiative (HLI) and a decade in private practice in New York City, focusing on landscape preservation and urban design.
    • Karen Mauney-Brodek,  President of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. Mauney-Brodek is working to restore and improve the Emerald Necklace’s 1,100 acres. She spearheaded the Conservancy’s 20th Anniversary celebration in 2018 and is currently leading a significant revitalization of Charlesgate Park with neighborhood group Charlesgate Alliance. 
    • Andy Mitton, Principal, The Berger Partnership. Mitton is a landscape architect, board member, past president, and nine-year member of Seattle’s Friends of Olmsted Parks (FSOP). He is currently working on the Olmsted 200 Tree Project to identify opportunities to reinvigorate Seattle’s historic parks. He was also part of a task force that compiled recommendations in a report, “Rebirth of Olmsted’s Design for Equity,” for the Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Seattle Board of Park Commissioners. 

    Register today on Eventbrite, free, to participate in this event.