By Dan Murphy
The Esplanade Association marked a long-awaited milestone on Tuesday, May 13, when it broke ground on the new Charles River Esplanade campus, which will transform the 2-acre site of the former Lee Pool complex into a year-round, universally accessible destination in the park.
Another group of ribbon-cutters comprised EA board members, along with Jen Mergel, EA’s James & Audrey Foster executive director (third from right) and Architect Maryann Thompson (second from right).
Made possible via a nearly 25-year public-private partnership between EA and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the new campus is expected to be fully installed in 2026, and it will be highlighted by the year-round Smith Family Pavilion at Charlesbank.
The project, designed by Architect Maryann Thompson, includes plans for “all-season public restrooms, an indoor/outdoor café, free Wi-Fi, lobby educational displays, reservable community rooms, a covered patio and upper deck, an outdoor stage, multipurpose recreational courts, flexible plaza, native tree canopy, rain garden, water conservation, and more free programs for all ages and abilities offered by EA and partners,” according to the Esplanade Association.
Funding for the $20 million-plus project cost has currently reached 95 percent, according to EA, kickstarted by early gifts from gifts from the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, the Conine Family Foundation, Bob and Happy Doran, Amy and David Abrams, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, and EA’s Board of Directors, among other donors,
“After years of planning, it was a thrill to gather at a future site of convening, creating, celebrating, and discovery along with Commissioner Brian Arrigo and his wonderful DCR colleagues, and so many friends of the Esplanade Association,” Jen Mergel, EA’s James & Audrey Foster executive director, said in a statement released following the groundbreaking. “The Smith Family Pavilion will honor the park’s rich and revolutionary history by allow Charlesbank to do what it was originally created and designed for: giving year-round access to welcome more people from more places to enjoy the vital benefits of communal access to greenspace.”