Since incorporated 25 years ago, the Esplanade Association (EA) has actively stewarded its namesake park, which now attracts around 4 million visitors annually and, that number is only expected to grow when the Esplanade soon becomes a year-round destination.
On Feb. 10. 2001, longtime Beacon Hill resident Linda Cox and then-Back Bay resident Jeryl Oristaglio formally launched EA.
The organization evolved from a joint committee, founded in 1997, of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay and the Beacon Hill Civic Association. The ad hoc group’s founders first turned for guidance to Henry Lee, who had established the Friends of the Public Garden in 1970 to work in close collaboration with the City of Boston to protect, preserve, and enhance the Public Garden, Boston Common, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.
But unlike the parks that the Friends of the Public of the Public Garden stewards with the city, the Esplanade is on state-owned land, so Cox and Oristaglio sought to establish a like-minded organization to work closely with the Department of Conservation and Recreation to help protect and preserve the Esplanade.
“[Cox and Oristaglio] were the real heroes who believed neighbors and community support could make changes at a point when the Commonwealth didn’t have the funds to make repairs and create the amenities that would bring more people to this greensapace,” said Jen Mergel, executive director of EA, during a recent phone call. “They called on their friends to roll up their sleeves and show the community what we could do together.”
EA began as an all-volunteer effort and remained that way until 2005, when the organization made its first hire for the position of volunteer coordinator. Today, the organization comprises a team of over 16 employees.
In its first year (2001), EA raised $250,000 in donations, noted Mergel, while a quarter of a century later, the organization has raised over $30 million in park investments donations to date.
“All of it is thanks to the individuals, organizations, and foundations who believed in supplementing our state park with the amenities that bring people the benefits they deserve,” said Mergel.
In 2001, EA completed its maiden project in the park – the design and construction of Stoneman Playground, located between Fairfield Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
And since this initial undertaking, EA has overseen and completed numerous other notable projects in the park, including the opening of its first universally accessible playground for all abilities last August.
The $ 2 million Gronk Playground, made possible by a donation from four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski via his Gronk Nation Youth Foundation (GNYF), along with additional contributions from the EA and DCR, is located in the oldest part of the Esplanade, an area of the park that was once home to the first free gym in North America named “Charlesbank” by designer Frederick Law Olmsted.
“The site has great DNA for bringing the past forward and for bringing a next generation to the Esplanade,” said Mergel.
With the imminent opening of the adjacent Charlesbank campus and its year-round Smith Family Pavilion on two acres of underused park land, the Esplanade is poised to become an even more popular destination in the near future.
“It’s definitely our biggest and absolutely our most transformational project, although it’s not our longest-running project,” said Mergel of the estimated more than $20-million endeavor.
For park visitors, the opening of the Esplanade’s new Charlesbank campus will make their experience significantly more comfortable and convenient, since in the past, they needed to step outside the Esplanade to use a restroom, purchase a refreshment, or even just find respite from inclement weather, from about mid-October through mid-April .
The opening of Charlesbank campus, with capacity to host a temporary murals, sculptures, and other visual installations, will allow more opportunities for the future expansion of EA’s public art program.
“Since 2017, we’ve loved inviting artists to make the park more joyful and inspiring, and to make area that may feel neglected into focal points that brighten people’s day,” said Mergel.
Highlights of its public art program to date have included commissioning murals that transformed an overpass ramp, electrical boxes, and pumphouses (i.e. structures used to regulate water drainage ) “from cement blocks covered with graffiti, to public art installations that delight passersby in the park and on Storrow Drive,” according to EA.
The group now intends to expand the mural program to the Charlesbank campus where EA’s lease allows for exhibits, said Mergel, and they are currently sharing several artists’ proposals for new work with their colleagues from DCR, before presenting for review with the City of Boston.
“Along with recreation, education, and park stewardship, we’re excited for the Charlesbank campus to also become a cultural destination, similar to how it was enjoyed across interests as in Olmsted’s day” said Mergel.
Besides the introduction of new visual art into the space, the Charlesbank campus will also be home to a smaller at-grade outdoor stage, which can complement the larger elevated Hatch Shell stage to offer more frequent and impromptu performances in the park.
Meanwhile, EA remains committed to protecting the park’s ecology over the long-term via climate-conscious initiatives, such as the launch of its Lasting Esplanade Arbor Fund (L.E.A.F.) initiative in 2019 and the publication of the first version of its Climate Action Plan in June 2024.
“We have been documenting and advancing the ongoing health of the Esplanade’s tree canopy through our Tree Management Succession Plan, and set up LEAF so more people can support the care of 1900 trees that are so vital not just for the atmosphere of riverfront but also for Downtown Boston,” said Mergel.
And especially with the construction of the Pavilion and Campus, EA has remained committed to not only building and designing environmentally friendly structures but also adhering to strict green-building practices..
New features—like a rain garden for stormwater filtration and rain barrel for watering 40 new trees–will not only be a “light footprint” but also “improve the health of the park,” added Mergel.
Asked to consider EA’s countless achievements over the years, Mergel points to the restoration of the Hatch Shell Oval Lawn as one of its unsung accomplishments.
In June of 2015, EA celebrated the opening of the newly restored Hatch Shell Oval Lawn, which cost an estimated $700,000 and was 100-percent privately funded through money raised by the group.
“While most visiting the Hatch focus on the stage, many don’t know what keeps that lawn under them green and thriving. It’s like we’re laying out a picnic blanket to make a nice space for people to come and have an enjoyable experience in the park,” said Mergel.
EA also partnered with DCR and Community Boating, Inc., a nonprofit sailing program based on the Charles River, to help rebuild its docks in 2011.
Three years later, EA reopened the revitalized Charles Eliot Memorial, located next to the Community Boating docks.
“We turned an important but overlooked memorial into beautiful garden destination,” said Mergel, noting that Eliot was a 19th century American landscape architect who was instrumental in creating the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, including the Esplanade.
Looking ahead, EA is now working in concert with DCR, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and the Charlesgate Alliance to advocate for designs that reclaim a pedestrian and bicycle routes between the Emerald Necklace and Charles River Esplanade, which was lost a half a century ago as a result of the construction of the Bowker Overpass.
In recognition of its collaborative work to reclaim this land, EA, along with the Charlesgate Alliance and Emerald Necklace Conservancy, was recently awarded the prestigious ‘Activist Award’ at the 60th annual meeting of the Charles River Watershed Association.
In a sperate undertaking, EA is also now in the exploratory phase for the reconstruction of the stone steps leading to Commissioners Landing, which was designed in the 1930s by venerable American landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff.
Mergel noted that the steps, which she described as a “character-defining feature of the landmarked Esplanade landscape,” have been shut off to the public for decades, and that their reconstruction has long been championed by EA’s co-founders as one of the longest running projects in EA’s history..
Reflecting on all that EA has achieved in its first 25 years, Mergel chalks up the group’s many successes to its strong emphasis on teamwork and collaboration.
“It’s really edifying to work on a great team with great people,” said Mergel. “We have an exceptionally dedicated board and staff who love working with DCR. So many people have made so much happen over the years.”
EA has forged many meaningful partnerships over the years, Mergel noted, including those with other larger and smaller organizations (e.g. the Museum of Science and Mass General Hospital and BU, and West End Museum and Hill House and Community Boating, among others), as well as with local elected officials, including Rep. Jay Livingstone and City Councilor Sharon Durkan.
“At the Esplanade Association, our mission is geographically specific but intentionally inclusive,” said Mergel. “While we focus on 64 acres of landmarked landscape, we know we can have a much broader impact on Greater Boston and the Commonwealth by inviting more people from more places to benefit from our iconic Downtown Boston riverfront.”
Visit https://esplanade.org/waystogive/ to support EA or visit esplanade.org for more information on the organization.