The Charles River Esplanade

The Charles River Esplanade. . , Esplanade History , Boston's Back Bay, a large tidal flat, was filled in by the 1880s. Today's Esplanade began as a 10-acre riverfront green space between the Charles River Dam Road and the Longfellow Bridge that provided outdoor gymnasia for the largely immigrant population living in the West End. Designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the innovative park included a riverside promenade, pathways, and landscaping for passive and active recreation., The river, however, remained tidal and foul smelling. Damming the river in 1910 transformed the mud flats into a wide basin with a constant water level and new parkland along the banks. , In the 1930s, landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff transformed and nearly doubled the size of the park. His plan added trees, pathways, and monuments. The water's edge was reimagined to include docks and narrow waterways. In 1956, the expanded park was dedicated as the Storrow Memorial Embankment. , Construction of Storrow Drive in the early 1950s brought more changes - additional basin fill at the river's edge and an extension of the lagoon island to replace land lost to the new thoroughfare, moving several structures, and adding more recreational facilities - creating the park we know today. , The Charles River Esplanade is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR is responsible for the stewardship of more than 450,000 acres of public land and parks across the Commonwealth and works in partnership with the Esplanade Association, a privately-funded park friends group, to maintain and improve this park for the enjoyment of all., The Esplanade Association, a nonprofit organization, is funded entirely by the generosity of members and donors. Since its founding in 2001, the Esplanade Association has been the catalyst for millions of dollars in park improvements including rebuilding docks, building new playgrounds, revitalizing the Eliot Memorial, and restoring the Lotta Fountain and Hatch Shell Oval Lawn., Find us on social media or: , Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation www.mass.gov/dcr/ , Esplanade Association www.esplanadeassociation.org, Park hours , open daily from dawn to dusk, Additional information not transcribed