A 327-space parking lot on parkland at the edge of Boston’s famed Esplanade along the Charles River could return to green space if the nearby Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary builds a thousand-car parking garage below the riverside recreation area. 

State Representative Martha Walz, who represents Boston’s Beacon Hill and West End neighborhoods, confirmed that Mass Eye and Ear is proposing constructing a 1,000-car garage beneath the Esplanade to expand its parking capacity.

The parking lot currently in use by Mass Eye and Ear is located adjacent to Storrow Drive and the MBTA’s Red Line. The institution leases the parking lot from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The infirmary is also seeking to purchase the air rights above the Charles Street extension where Mass Eye and Ear is located to expand the facility across the roadway and above the park. The plan, which is in the earliest stages of public vetting, will likely change over time after the infirmary gets community feedback, Walz told Banker & Tradesman.

She added she would like "to get that parkland back," into use as green space instead of institutional use as a parking lot. The plan as it stands would require relocating a portion of Storrow Drive.