Boston’s waterfront area has benefited from the work of The Boston Harbor Association, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
By Kristie DiSalvo
When the League of Women Voters first began its campaign to clean up Boston Harbor, city beaches that once hosted hundreds of families along its shore and held children splashing in its waves had sat quietly and in disrepair for years.
But the group of women from the city’s Beacon Hill and Back Bay sections weren’t about to give up. They approached dozens of local businesses and sent out penny postcards about bag-lunch meetings. Most of the companies weren’t interested, but the women finally found a partner in the Boston Shipping Association.
Together, the two groups lobbied for change, and in 1973 officially founded The Boston Harbor Association. The association celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
“The seaport, like every industrial center, needs a defender when it falls on changed circumstances,” said Eugenie Beal, one of the original members of The Boston Harbor Association and the first chairwoman of the Conservation Commission.
“People responded to the concerns,” added Bob Kenney, former director of the Boston Redevelopment Association from 1971 to 1977. “Also, the shipping association wanted to make sure it had the facilities for their industry. I think they should be quite satisfied.”
In the early 1970s, industries surrounding the harbor continually dumped waste into the water, including minimally treated raw sewage. Words like “multiple treatments” and “sludge” were words that Muriel Kasdon had never heard of, but as one of the founding members of the association, she learned quickly and soon became an expert.
“While I was always interested in civic affairs, this was something you could really put your teeth into,” she said.
‘Absolutely Thrilled’
The group was firm on two points – it wanted public access to the waterfront and the preservation of Boston’s small-city feel. The league garnered Democratic and Republican support and were able to make harbor cleanup a bipartisan issue.
“The league was very well respected then,” said Vivien Li, executive director of The Boston Harbor Association. “These were very bright, well-educated women who were focused on how to get things done.”
Boston’s beaches originally began declining in the 1960s. With the rise of automobiles and television, families in the Hub realized they had more options than the city beach. The middle class found other outlets, such as Cape Cod, for summer entertainment.
“The beaches lost their constituency and fell into disrepair,” Li said. “The people who would have fought for water quality looked to other places for recreation.”
Then, in 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated. The environmental movement was well under way and the founding of several conservation groups followed. In 1972, Congress also passed the Clean Water Act, further paving the way for harbor cleanup.
But in Boston, there was still a long way to go.
“Shore Plaza was built on the water in East Boston then – it had no windows facing the water. Back then, no one thought it was a resource,” Li said. “That’s the biggest indicator of the attitude at that time.”
But the League of Women voters began changing attitudes.
“Could we do it today? I’m not sure,” Li said of the women’s success in those early years. “At that junction in time, there were officials who had memories of spending time on the beaches.”
In 1984, the idea of a 43-mile HarborWalk was introduced, based on the idea that the founders wanted public access to the water – not high-rise condominiums at every corner. Today, more than 70 percent is complete. Li said that the association is working to finish the remaining portion within the next five years.
In the years following the harbor cleanup, property values have increased, more upscale hotels have been developed along the shore and more restaurants have opened. The waterfront, once a strictly 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. industrial zone, is now considered a 24/7 entertainment district, according to Li.
Some of the founding members are happy with the success of the association.
“I’m absolutely thrilled today by the realization of what’s happened to Boston – it’s the most beautiful city in the world,” she said. “Someone asked me what city I’d like to visit the other day, and I said, ‘why would I want to leave Boston?'”
The association’s goals for the future include additional educational programs for children and adults, completion of the HarborWalk by 2009, interpretative signage around the HarborWalk, along with coin-operated telescopes and outdoor and indoor exhibits.
“Have we put ourselves out of business? Not yet,” Li said.
The association’s old newsletters talk of parking issues, access, land use, sewage treatment alternatives and a commuter’s ferry, are still issues today.
“There’s still a tremendous amount of work to be done,” Beal said.
Kristie DiSalvo may be reached at kdisalvo@thewarrengroup.com.
