The Esplanade Association Council presents The Ugly Sweater Party on Thursday, January 31, from 7 – 10 at The Foundation Room at the House of Blues Boston, 15 Lansdowne Street in Boston. The $25 ticket purchase includes event admission, appetizers, a drink ticket, and more. Call 617-227-0365, ext. 103, to reserve, or visit www.esplanadeassociation.org. Hats are optional.
The Esplanade Association and Pawsh Dog Boutique are hosting a Canine Promenade on Saturday, October 27, from 10:30 – 12:30 at Fiedler Field on the Esplanade. The Canine Promenade is a 1/2â€mile Halloween costume parade around the Esplanade to benefit the park, highlight the park as a resource for dog owners and to raise awareness about park improvements. In the spirit of the season, we encourage you to dress up your dogs (and yourself) in costume.
$10 registration donation per dog (purchase ticket on line at www.esplanadeassociation.org)
Meet at Fiedler Field on the Esplanade (see www.esplanadeassociation.org for directions)
Prizes for Best Costumes
Capture a shot of your pup in costume
Tasty treats provided by Pawsh
Learn about the Esplanade as a resource for dog owners
Your donation will help support the Association’s efforts to restore the park, including the historic Lotta Fountain. Please include your dog’s name when registering.
For those who missed the first unveiling, the Kingsley Montessori School Community Speaker Series presents Sylvia Salas, executive director of The Esplanade Association, speaking on Esplanade 2020 Unveiled: A Vision for the Charles River Esplanade, at Kingsley Montessori School, 26 Exeter Street, on Wednesday, March 28, from 6:30 – 8. This event is free of charge. Respond to karen_d@kingsley.org, or telephone 617-226-4932 if you plan to attend.
The Esplanade Association (TEA) will hold a public meeting—“Esplanade 2020 Unveiledâ€â€”on Thursday, February 9, at 6:00 p.m. in the Rabb Auditorium of the Boston Public Library Central Branch to present a community vision for the Charles River Esplanade. An initiative of The Esplanade Association, Esplanade 2020 has brought together community members, public officials, and design professionals to craft a shared vision for the future of the Esplanade. The meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to hear and comment on the recommendations set forth in Esplanade 2020.
As part of the park’s centennial in 2010, TEA assembled a team of leading Boston design and planning specialists, the Esplanade 2020 Committee, to take a fresh look at every element of the park. Working closely with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, park users, and major stakeholders, this group of volunteers spent more than a year crafting a vision for the Esplanade. The committee held more than a dozen meetings with the general public and a variety of stakeholders to gather input, which helped the committee establish guiding principles, create a vision statement, and define objectives.
Esplanade 2020 illustrates ways in which these core principles, consistently applied, can transform Boston’s waterside park into one of the world’s great urban outdoor spaces.
The objectives of Esplanade 2020 are to present recommendations for the continued restoration and enhancement of the Esplanade for the next 100 years. Some ideas are big and ambitious, others more readily implemented. These ideas can provide context for very specific restoration projects and can serve as an inspiration and as a road map for future improvements on the Esplanade.
For more information on the project, please visit www.esplanadeassociation.org. To offer your thoughts, please send an e-mail to info@esplanadeassociation.org (please put “Esplanade 2020 Unveiled†in the subject line) or write to The Esplanade Association, Attn: Esplanade 2020, 376 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116.
Please save the date, November 4, 2011 for The Esplanade Association’s 10th Anniversary Party with the TEA Council’s Night Owls, the young members group of The Esplanade Association. This will be one part of an organization-wide celebration happening that night at The Royal Sonesta in Cambridge, Massachusett.
More details on tickets, times, transportation, after party, and the committee are to come but get ready to celebrate The Charles River Esplanade on November 4th! Visit www.esplanadeassociation.org.
The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay has informed us of a Petition to Support H. 1169, An Act Protecting Sunlight in Certain Public Parks, sponsored by Representatives Martha Walz and Byron Rushing. To read the bill, go to www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H01169. This bill seeks to expand and clarify the current laws that protect the sunlight on the beloved Boston Public Garden and the Boston Common by limiting new shadows. Specifically, the bill would prohibit any new construction or building remodeling from blocking sunlight and casting new shadows on six additional public parks. The goal of the bill is to allow reasonably-scaled development near the parks while protecting sufficient sunlight for the health of the park environment and the enjoyment of its users.
The five Boston parks and one Cambridge park will be protected by the bill are:
* The Back Bay Fens
* Christopher Columbus Park
* The Commonwealth Avenue Mall
* Copley Square Park
* The Esplanade
* Magazine Beach Park
You can sign the petition immediately (through May 22) by logging in to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sunlight2. However, if you have already signed the petition, please do not do so again. If you have any questions concerning this legislation, you may email Sue Prindle at sprindl@verizon.net. Photo from www.gardenvoice.com.
The Esplanade Association invites you to join them for the Second Annual Fall Clean-Up on Saturday, November 6th from 10 AM-3 PM, to help beautify the park and ready it for its annual winter coat of snow.
Volunteers are needed to help with leaf raking and general clean-up. To make sure that everyone’s in the fall spirit, we will provide apples and cider. Gloves and rakes will be provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gear as well. All ages are welcome!
They are also in need of volunteer leaders for Fall Clean-Up Day to staff 4 check-in stations at the park (2 leaders each): Lee Pool, Hatch Shell, Dartmouth Street, and the Exercise Course. Volunteer leaders will help with check-in, handing out cider, apples, and tools, and any other emergencies that may come up. Leaders are asked to be at their stations from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
For more information and to RSVP, please contact Jessica Blohm, Park Project and Volunteer Coordinator at 617.227.0365 or jblohm@esplanadeassociation.org.
Join honorary chairs The Honorable Governor Deval L. Patrick and First Lady Diane B. Patrick, and The Honorable mayor Thomas M. Menino and First Lady of Boston Angela F. Menino, and The Esplanade Association on the banks of the Charles River to celebrate the Esplanade’s 100th year of nature, culture and recreation. A spectacular evening on the Esplanade will support the vital programs and projects of The Esplanade Association, including Children in the Park, Kids Fishing Club, Dancing Under the Stars, Yoga on the Esplanade, Four Season Walking Tours, Esplanade 2020, Community Boating Dock Replacement, Tree Care and Turf Improvement, Park Amenities, Historic Granite Landings Restoration, Esplanade Collection (Tree Adoption, Bench Sponsorship and Flower Planting).
The Arthur Fiedler Achievement Award will honor Maestro Keith Lockhart, Conductor of the famed Boston Pops. Sponsorship opportunities ranging from $25,000 – $3,000 are available, and individual tickets are $750. For more information, please contact June Mattioli at 617-227-0365, or email jmattioli@esplanadeassociation.org.
On May 12, 2010, you are invited to join The Esplanade Association and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to review and comment on proposed improvements to the Charles River Esplanade. These suggested changes, made by the Esplanade 2020 Project and conceptual in nature, are meant to both improve the visitor experience and raise the ecological and aesthetic standards of the riverfront park. Team leaders of the Esplanade 2020 Design Group will present, and there will be ample time for community feedback and questions.
Frameworks for the Future: Activities, Circulation, Wayfinding, and Landscape
An Esplanade 2020 Public Meeting
Wednesday, May 12, 6-8:30pm
Boston Public Library, McKim Lower Level Conference Room
Presentations at the public meeting will include: Overview of the Esplanade 2020 Project (John Shields, AIA, President of SheildsDESIGN); Activities (John Stebbins, AIA, LEED AP, Principle Emeritus of Cambridge Seven Associates); Circulation (Anthony Pangaro, Principle of Millennium Partners – Boston, Architect, former Manager of Boston’s Southwest Corridor Project); Wayfinding (Mark Favermann, Architect, President of Favermann Design); and Landscape (Craig Halverson, FASLA, President of Halverson Design Partnership).
The Esplanade 2020 Project is an initiative of The Esplanade Association, in collaboration with DCR, which is crafting a shared vision for the future of the Charles River Esplanade. In celebration of the park’s Centennial Anniversary, the Esplanade 2020 Project is suggesting visionary but realistic changes to the park that will elevate it to its intended status as a world class destination over the next ten years and beyond. Guided by community feedback collected at a series of public meetings, a core group of architectural, planning, and horticultural professionals is working to analyze current park conditions and make suggestions for substantial park improvements. Esplanade 2020 is an inclusive project, and broad community participation is encouraged.
For more information about Esplanade 2020, or to RSVP, please visit www.esplanadeassociation.org or contact Chris Murton at 617.227.0365 or cmurton@esplanadeassociation.org.
Put on your walking shoes Saturday, May 1, from 10 am – 12 noon, and join The Esplanade Association’s spring walk, guided by Karl Haglund, noted historian and author of Inventing the Charles River. Mr. Haglund, who also serves as the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Project Manager for the New Charles River Basin, will delight you with fun facts about the Esplanade as you take in the sights and sounds of the park. Meet in front of the Hatch Shell, rain or shine. You may contact Justin Burke at 617-227-0365 for more information, or log on to www.esplanadeassociation.org.
