Plans to redevelop the pier in this neighborhood waterfront park has been put on hold…for now

Well, this is a bummer. 

After a years-long plan to redevelop a rundown pier in Eastie into a new waterfront park, in addition to raising $30 million in pledges toward the project, the land trust nonprofit is taking a step back for now. 

Thanks to rising sea levels and flooding, Trustees of Reservations is considering alternate locations in the neighborhood. According to the Boston Globe, the project is officially on hold because the Piers Park Phase III project would not provide adequate protection for the new park. 

Initially, the Piers Park III project was designed as a “world-class, climate resilient park” featuring a fishing pier, kayak launch, beach, and other outdoor recreation features for the public. To provide that, the plan would require partially removing and fixing the 4-acre pier owned by MassPort and then creating tidal pools, salt marshes, and coastal woodlands.

This would have been the Trustees of Reservations first urban waterfront redevelopment project of its kind. The organization has a more than 100-year history of preserving land in Massachusetts, including woodlands, parks, farms, and historic homes.  Over the past few years, the project scaled back due to the estimated cost and tricky nature of the site.  The estimated costs has skyrocketed to a $55 million project. The 2-acre park originally planned to be built on artificial land (aka fill) and the most recent design plan covered only half of that at high tide.  According to the article, Trustees of Reservations would have to dedicate more than a third of the budget to fix the structural integrity of the pier to make construction of the park possible. 

The first two larger phases of Piers Park have already been completed which included elevating the land the block flood areas as sea levels rise.  The new pier was meant to be the final part of this complete project.

As for next steps, the City of Boston will discuss the future of the pier with MassPort.  The Trustees will decide how to proceed in the neighborhood either a new location or with Piers park.  Phase III construction was supposed to begin this year with an opening date of spring 2025.  Tens of millions of dollars have been pledged by Boston-area corporations.  The Trustees will be checking with these corporations to make sure they still want their funding to go to East Boston if the project moves to a different location.