Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

FortPointGuy said:
Yeah it's kind of a bummer it's a half court, but people seem pretty enthused to finally have park amenities that most of the other neighborhoods already have (count me as one). I've seen it get a lot of daytime usage so far during the week - probably folks that work in area I'd assume. Think the closest other court is on West 2nd or 3rd Street, so nice to now have one in Fort Point.
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The proposal for the park that is going to be built within the Channel Center project has a half-court as well (http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/DevelopmentProjects/PipeDocs/One%20Channel%20Center/One%20Channel%20Center_Comments.pdf. There's plenty of room for a full court. I'm assuming the decision for half vs. full is an attempt at reducing loitering.
 
Two halves don't make a whole here. At the risk of sounding like a spoiled resident, a public tennis court or soccer nets would have been nice. The only public tennis court near Fort Point is in...North End by the Charlestown bridge?

Thanks for posting the link, I hadn't seen that.
 
FortPointGuy said:
Two halves don't make a whole here. At the risk of sounding like a spoiled resident, a public tennis court or soccer nets would have been nice. The only public tennis court near Fort Point is in...North End by the Charlestown bridge?

Thanks for posting the link, I hadn't seen that.
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The developers have said time and time again that they don't actually want people hanging out and playing sports in the parks down here. That's why the "park" near One Marina Park Drive was mysteriously terraced, when it originally was not. People were actually enjoying the park, throwing footballs and stuff and fun is unacceptable in Boston. It's so fucking backwards. This is an emerging district and they should be embracing anyone who comes in here to do virtually anything.
 
FortPointGuy said:
Two halves don't make a whole here. At the risk of sounding like a spoiled resident, a public tennis court or soccer nets would have been nice. The only public tennis court near Fort Point is in...North End by the Charlestown bridge?
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Although only slightly closer, there is a court on Farrogut Rd @ E 2nd.

Also a number of courts in Moakley Park.
 
ParkerChris said:
The proposal for the park that is going to be built within the Channel Center project has a half-court as well (http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/DevelopmentProjects/PipeDocs/One%20Channel%20Center/One%20Channel%20Center_Comments.pdf. There's plenty of room for a full court. I'm assuming the decision for half vs. full is an attempt at reducing loitering.
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I'm a harsh critic of the BRA when it comes to architecture and land use, but it's fair to say with respect to the park in front of State Street tower the planning was largely between the landscape architect and the community.

Same goes for Wormwood Park, a small but highly successful park in Fort Point.

Q Park was also the result of a fairly functional community process. With competing interests (e.g. active, passive, dogs, etc.), half-court trumped full court to leave room for other amenities.

Results are less stellar when there isn't an invested community, such as at Fan Pier. Fortunately, the park at Fan Pier leaves room for future opportunities as residents fill in.
 
I am a big fan of fountains. One thing that is noticeably lacking in seaport parks or park proposals is fountains. Anyone know of any plans to include a meaningful fountain or water feature in any of the parks? I know that developers like to avoid them as they are expensive to operate and often provide maintenance and operational headaches. Nonetheless, the area is screaming for some meaningful water feature, in addition to the harbor and the channel that is.
 
FortPointGuy said:
Two halves don't make a whole here. At the risk of sounding like a spoiled resident, a public tennis court or soccer nets would have been nice. The only public tennis court near Fort Point is in...North End by the Charlestown bridge?

Thanks for posting the link, I hadn't seen that.
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A tennis court entertains 2 or 4.

A basketball court entertains from 1-10+.

A tennis court requires expensive equipment.

A basketball court requires something that bounces.

Id take a basketball court any day.
 
I almost agree. Tennis balls are things that bounce, and a usable racket can be had for pretty damn cheap. I don't think Andre and Steffi are moving into the area anytime soon....

B-ball court is much more preferred in my opinion, although tennis would really complement the other too high end amenities in the area. I'm just bummed the court wasn't there when I was working in the area. Now I move, and blammo, something I would enjoy.
 
Tombstoner said:
+1
Fountains are wonderful--something Boston needs a lot more of.
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Its pretty amazing how a simple water feature and some nice landscaping will outshine many of these seaport parks.

So add it to the list of things A\B loves

List so far:
Biergartens
Water Fountains
 
Wow, I actually like the way that Q Park looks. It'll be nice when it's surrounded by buildings.
 
tmac9wr said:
Wow, I actually like the way that Q Park looks. It'll be nice when it's surrounded by buildings.
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For how much I hate the politics involved in this deal and the first box building developed. The box buildings together aren't coming out that bad hopefully the ground floor access can provide a more city atmosphere instead of a 128 office park by the water.
 
Wow! Nice park! Add a couple more thousand people to the neighborhood and somebody should use it.
 
armpitsOFmight said:
Wow! Nice park! Add a couple more thousand people to the neighborhood and somebody should use it.
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The park is pretty cool, I'm loving the basketball hoop. Hoping the neighborhood gets a little more full when the melcher street and 319A rear buildings start moving people in...
 
TheRifleman said:
For how much I hate the politics involved in this deal and the first box building developed. The box buildings together aren't coming out that bad hopefully the ground floor access can provide a more city atmosphere instead of a 128 office park by the water.
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True. Hopefully as the infill of the neighborhood begins, the ground level will become more important to developers. We'll see though.
 
I really miss the kind of playgrounds we had before litigation became such a concern.

That looks sterile and depressing.
 
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