A $5 million demolition and reconstruction of the Boston Tea Party site in the city’s Fort Point Channel area, which has been proposed by Historic Tours of America, is slated to begin within the next 30 to 60 days. The project calls for, among other changes, an expanded museum and a cafe.
A proposed demolition and reconstruction of the Boston Tea Party site in the city’s Fort Point Channel area will be under way within the next 30 to 60 days, with the redeveloped property expected to open in the summer of next year.
Historic Tours of America, which acquired a lease from the city last week, plans an expanded museum, a cafe, full access to the Congress Street Bridge and the addition of two new, three-masted vessels.
The private, $5 million project will mark one of the first visible changes in the Fort Point Channel, a focal city planning point over the past few years.
The improvements also will correct fire damage that destroyed the museum two years ago when lightning hit the Congress Street Bridge. The Brig Beaver, the replica of the Tea Party ship, survived.
The two new vessels will serve as a nautical exhibit and historical space.
Richard McGuinness, senior waterfront planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, considers the Boston Tea Party Museum one of the cultural anchors of the Fort Point Channel. He said the project lies within the planning area for the city’s latest municipal harbor plan – and, once completed, will improve public access to the waterfront, enhance open spaces and set guidelines for development.
“We want to preserve its industrial, gritty, quirky character,” McGuinness said.
‘A Sense of Place’
In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the area served mercantile and industrial business; it also became a hub for boats arriving from Russia, hence the name Russia Wharf. Now the harbor is home to a hodgepodge of developments, including Independence Wharf, Hook Lobster, the Children’s Museum and the U.S. Post Office Annex. Those behind the Fort Point plan are hoping for a unified look, one that would create a continuous park along the waterfront and control development.
The state’s general laws contain a waterways act, more commonly known as Chapter 91, which applies to all non-developed coastal areas and establishes setbacks, frontage and height. The root of Chapter 91 stems from Colonial ordinances developed before the American Revolution – basically, they established the principal that the public should have access to the waterfront for “fishing, fouling and navigation.” That phrase developed the framework of permitted uses for the abutting land. But for the Fort Point Channel, Chapter 91 didn’t work. If the city applied setback guidelines to Russia Wharf, it would have to cut off the corner of a historic building.
“If you apply it to the parcels on the downtown side, it makes no sense,” said Joy Conway, chairwoman of the Municipal Harbor Plan Advisory Committee.
State law provides an out, allowing the city to create municipal harbor plans which take existing buildings into account and provide a framework for future development and growth. It’s already been done for Charlestown and South Boston.
A main goal of the Fort Point project will be developing public spaces and events to draw people into the area. Developers along the harbor are coordinating plans for a harbor walk and gardens in an effort to create a unified vision. Also in the works are plans for a jazz and blues club with an outdoor patio, a rooftop observatory, signage, benches, bathrooms, water transportation and lighting for the Congress Street Bridge.
Bob Kaye, director of development for Russia Wharf, said the harbor plan has created a strong consensus on the future of the channel. Russia Wharf will play a large role in the harbor’s rejuvenation. Kaye plans replacing waterfront parking with public open space, creating a waterfront plaza, supplying a venue for outdoor and indoor events and concerts and displaying public art.
“It’s enormously constructive, a great process,” Kaye said of the harbor plan. “I think we’ve benefited from it.”
Russia Wharf will be a mixed-use development with office, hotel, residential and restaurant space.
As part of the overall harbor plan, local businesses are providing free activities to help draw people into Fort Point. The Children’s Museum has contributed with Wednesday concerts, a farmer’s market and salsa lessons at lunchtime.
“What you’re seeing is a sense of place really emerging out of this process,” said Neil Gordon, chief operating officer of the museum.
The Fort Point Planning Committee held its last public meeting on the harbor project July 15. The plan then goes to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and Conway hopes for an approval by the end of the month. It will then move on to the state Legislature for final action.
