Esplanade infill and developments

stick n move

stick n move

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There isnt a catch all thread for the esplanade, so I think its appropriate to make one now that theres many different projects going on.
 

Gronk to spike ball forever in rebuilt Esplanade playground​

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“DCR last week unveiled designs for the Gronk Playground it will be installing on the Esplanade - centered around a slide meant to immortalize the way Gronk used to spike a football after a touchdown.

The playground will replace the current generic playground next to the Alfond Spray Deck across Storrow Drive from the "If You Lived Here" apartments and will be ADA compliant, DCR says. It's named after Gronk because he donated some $1.2 million for the playground upgrade.

The exterior panels of the spiked-football slide will feature "inspirational quotes" from athletes, DCR says.”

The Spike slide seen head on:

Gronk slide seen head on

“The playground will also include a 40-yard dash area and a "Gronk High 5 Low 5" board that features a life-sized visage of the 6'6" fully extending one arm up and another down, along with a ruler that goes up to the 8 feet he can reach. Kids who can't reach his raised hand can instead give him a low 5 on the other hand.

Other parts of the playground, which will have areas for both younger and older kids, will pay homage to other things Boston is known for, including smaller slides for younger kids coming off an elevated play area shaped like a Duck Boat and a "bridge climber" shaped like the Zakim Bridge:”

Zakim-like bridge climber

“Plans call for the preservation of two existing elm trees on the site. The main playground features will be placed away from the trees' root zones and any work near them will be done by hand to minimize any potential damage to them. Five new shade trees will be planted.

DCR says it has approval from state waterfront regulators, the Boston Conservation Commission and the Massachusetts Historical Commission for the renovation.”

Overall playground design (trees not shown):

Overall playground design

https://www.universalhub.com/2023/gronk-spike-ball-forever-rebuilt-esplanade
 
This is a NIMBY distraction. It’s great there’s a donation, but this does nothing to make the city more affordable or dynamic.
 
^^ Not sure I follow why you're picking out this project to throw shade at.

I'm sure parents will be happy to have a new playground. Ensuring the city is appealing to families is pretty important - and does in fact lead to greater dynamism in the city.

Moreover, I'm fairly certain a majority of the projects we follow on this forum aren't necessarily intended to "make the city more affordable."
 
Charlesbank Landing right next door is also moving forward. "Charlesbank Landing on the Esplanade will be located at the former site of Lee Pool, in between the Longfellow Bridge and Museum of Science, and adjacent to the Teddy Ebersol’s Red Sox Fields, Alfond Memorial Spray Deck, and the future site of Gronk Playground."
 
Reznor said:
but this does nothing to make the city more affordable
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Not everything has to be about housing affordability. Yes that's extremely important, but that doesn't mean literally everything else to improve the city should get put on pause. It's in the same category of argument as "We shouldn't improve anything because it would cause gentrification."
Reznor said:
or dynamic.
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If "active outdoor space popular with a variety of age-groups" isn't dynamic then I don't really know what is.
 
I walked by last Monday and Wednesday (April 28/30) and was surprised at how quickly things got underway and placed.

I would not be surprised if they hit their target for the Summer 2025 opening. For example, if I recall properly, they were doing foundation/drainage/etc work on Monday and then Wednesday they already had half of those features in the album placed. I didn't see the football shaped structure, but they had the Gronk high five thing, duck boat structures, and an accessible swing set already placed.

I'm excited for this to finally be under construction (announced in what, 2023?), and maybe we'll finally be able to walk on the river side of this playground now that the Police Barracks is done and they seemed to have rehabbed the old Dam Control Tower(?) Upper Lock Gatehouse (between this playground and the barracks) whose roof was in quite bad shape.

EDIT: Also, that reminds me, this "temporary structure for housing construction/maintenance equipment" seems to be removed for the first time since uh...before 2020? Maybe that means they've moved that into the rebuilt upper lock gatehouse? Google satellite view because I didnt think to take a picture (and streetview is from 2015 when it was still parking). They moved that temporary ops yard to another temporary ops in an area behind the "Dartmouth Street Comfort Station" paved area for now.

Screenshot 2025-05-07 at 10.58.01 AM.png
 
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Scott said:
Charlesbank Landing right next door is also moving forward. "Charlesbank Landing on the Esplanade will be located at the former site of Lee Pool, in between the Longfellow Bridge and Museum of Science, and adjacent to the Teddy Ebersol’s Red Sox Fields, Alfond Memorial Spray Deck, and the future site of Gronk Playground."
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The esplanade association had a meeting on April 2nd and have posted the video of the meeting online to YouTube

Continuing the information from my previous post, the Charlesbank Landing project is moving forward which is the reason for the move of the Temporary Ops Shed, and in the video they say it'll be temporarily moved to adjacent to the Dartmouth Street Comfort Area for the next year and a half until they can move their ops into the new facility in the Charlesbank Landing build.

Here's a link to the project page from Lee Kennedy project team -- https://www.myleekennedy.net/charlesbanklanding with more information, including what they will show for progress.

Oh my god we're getting "live" updates!

There will be bi-weekly aerial drone images taken of the site at this link here (only works from clicking the link on their lee kennedy project landing page, so this direct link may not always work).

They also have a link to "Openspace" where they will do weekly walkthroughs to give streetview-like updates weekly. Direct link here (same caveat as above).

Construction expected to begin June 2nd, 2025

Some images here for posterity:

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Groundbreaking Celebrated for New Charles River Esplanade Campus​

“The Esplanade Association, DCR, Maryann Thompson Architects, & Lee Kennedy Company recently celebrated the groundbreaking for the new Charles River Esplanade campus anchored by the year-round Smith Family Pavilion at Charlesbank.

The project will transform the 2-acre site of the former Lee Pool complex (between Teddy Ebersol’s Red Sox Fields and the Alfond Spray Deck) into a year-round, universally-accessible destination with indoor and outdoor amenities that have been decades in the planning. This initiative will introduce a 9,000-square-foot, two-story pavilion with indoor and outdoor spaces for recreational, civic, artistic, educational, and cultural activities……….”

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https://www.bldup.com/posts/groundbreaking-celebrated-for-new-charles-river-esplanade-campus
 
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