The trellis in Christopher Columbus Park runs 260 feet near the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, and it sits on the highest ground in the park. On November 23 it lights up again. The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park keep its blue lights on from the end of November through the middle of April.
This year those lights will stay on for the first winter of a City redesign of the park and Long Wharf. In the project's first public presentation, the designers explained why the trellis is the part of the park most likely to stay as it is. Its high ground is where a future flood-protection elevation would barely show. The bigger changes would come along the harbor edge, where the Harborwalk runs.
November 23, and the Five Months That Follow
The ceremony runs from 5 to 6 p.m. at 110 Atlantic Avenue, and it's free. The City lists this as the 24th annual holiday lighting of the trellis. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park host it together. According to the Friends' event page, Mayor Wu will count down to switching on 50,000 lights, and the evening includes holiday sing-alongs and a visit from Santa Claus.
Local businesses supply the food. The City's listing names eggnog from H.P. Hood, hot chocolate and cookies from the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, and clam chowder from Joe's Waterfront. Rudolph appears alongside Santa. H.P. Hood and the Friends sponsor the celebration, with more support from Meet Boston.
The ceremony lasts an hour, and the lights stay on for about five months. The Friends pay for the display through memberships and corporate sponsors. The trellis also hosts events after the holidays. Last February the Friends put a "Tunnel of Love" installation inside it for the whole month.
What About 90 Park Users Told the Designers
On September 29, the City held two workshops. One was in the park in the afternoon and the other was at City Hall in the evening. The City's Phase 1 engagement report counts 39 sign-ins and estimates about 90 people attended.
Workshop participants picked what they use the park for. Here is how those choices ranked:
| How workshop participants use the park | Selections |
|---|---|
| Taking in the view | 18 |
| Gathering with loved ones | 17 |
| Strolling | 12 |
| Events and festivals | 10 |
| Commuting through | 5 |
| Fitness and running | 4 |
| Games and active play | 3 |
The top three uses are all slow ones, and together they outnumber the active uses more than six to one. Participants mostly wanted to sit, look at the harbor and spend time with people. Their requests match that. They asked for plenty of trees and shade, places to rest and look at the water, and clean, well-kept grounds. They also said any resilience work should leave the experience of the park and waterfront unchanged.
On a map of the park, participants marked the Rose Garden as a place for solitude. They also labeled the playground, the Rose Kennedy Garden and the lawn, and their comments praised the ferries and the fountain. One wish card asked for a bigger playground. Others asked for more trees, flowers and greenery. One online survey respondent described the park as "a quiet respite from the noise of the city."
The City summed up the first round of input in a set of takeaways. The first one names the trellis directly:
Protect what people enjoy most: preserve the experience of the waterfront, trellises, and neighborhood character
The other takeaways ask for flood protection that doesn't block the park's connection to the water, nature-based design, and a clean park people can use in every season.
Why the Pergola Is the Easy Part
The design team has a physical reason to agree with that first takeaway. In the recorded presentation, the designers showed how proposed flood-protection elevations compare with the park's current ground levels. They said an elevation of 14 or 15 feet "would have minimal impact at the park's high point along the pergola." The same elevation along the water's edge "would have a significant impact to the character of the park unless the grade at the waterfront was raised."
So the structure workshop participants asked the City to protect already sits about where the protection would need to go. The hard design work is at the harbor edge. That edge is where the Harborwalk runs, and the edge is also where workshop participants raised the most problems. Their comments mentioned barriers that felt unsafe for families with young children, unclear signs about public access, fear of falling into the water, noise and confusing wayfinding. Participants also asked for a modern ferry hub with more boats and easier transfers.
The edge covers more ground than many residents might assume. The design area includes all of Christopher Columbus Park and the north side of Long Wharf. It also includes the walkway from the park to the Marriott, the Harborwalk out to Waterboat Marina, and the City-owned lot behind the Chart House. The presentation also lists what makes the site complicated. The ground underneath is hard to work with, stormwater has to drain past tide gates, the park's maintenance facility has to keep working, and the wharf is a transit hub.
The City describes the goal as an accessible design that can actually be built, taken to the schematic level and built on earlier flood planning for the wharf. The project page says Parks and Planning are working together on it. It builds on the Planning Department's Resilient Long Wharf project and looks more closely at how the park connects to the wharf.
A Long Way From a Shovel
None of this changes the park this winter. The recorded presentation describes three phases:
- Review earlier work and gather input from park users. The September workshops were part of this phase.
- Test three design concepts with rough costs, then pick one and develop it into schematic drawings.
- Publish a final report for public and City review and comment.
The City puts the whole process at 18 months. The Architect's Newspaper reported on October 13 that Reed Hilderbrand will lead the design with Agency Landscape and Planning and Weston & Sampson, and it described a 14-month process. Either way, the end of the process is a plan, and building it comes later. The City's project page lists the expected completion year as "To be determined" and the contractor as "TBD." It also shows no upcoming events. The same page has a sign-up for Parks Department updates, which is the easiest way to hear when the second phase and its three concepts go public.
The trellis will be lit from late November to mid-April, which covers a good part of the second phase. Residents who walk the park this winter will see it the way the designers are studying it, with the pergola on high ground and the Harborwalk low along the water.
The Rest of the Season Within a Few Blocks
The lighting is the waterfront's main event in late November, and several other things are happening close by.
- Seals off exhibit at the New England Aquarium. The Atlantic harbor seals are temporarily off exhibit while their habitat is improved, and the Aquarium hasn't given a date for their return.
- Two November evenings at Central Wharf. The Aquarium's calendar lists a seal-care experience on November 12, priced at $150, and an after-hours event for ages 21 and up on November 20, priced at $35.
- A coffee bar headed for Independence Wharf. Boston Restaurant Talk reported October 21 that Tradesman Coffee Shop & Bar plans to open at 470 Atlantic Avenue. When it reported, the sign said "Opening Soon."
- Snowport across the channel. Caught in Southie reports that the Snowport Holiday Market runs November 6 through December 27 at 100 Seaport Boulevard, with more than 130 independent vendors and 17 food and drink concepts.
- Holiday tables at Rowes Wharf. Boston Harbor Hotel lists Thanksgiving dining at Rowes Wharf Sea Grille on November 26 and Christmas dining there on December 25.
The redesign meetings will set what the park's water's edge looks like for years, and the team at Moving Greater Boston is following each phase as it goes public. If you live near Columbus Park or Long Wharf and want to know how the plans for the Harborwalk and the wharf could shape your corner of the Waterfront, reach out. We're glad to talk it through, before or after the lights go on November 23.
