Dorchester Shores Reservation is a
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
consisting of three non-contiguous areas totaling along the eastern edge of the
Dorchester section of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The area is composed of
beaches
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
and a park along the extended mouth of the
Neponset River
The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...
: Savin Hill/Malibu Beach, Tenean Beach, and Victory Road Park. Savin Hill is adjacent to Malibu Beach and has been restored to its original
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law ...
design. The reservation is managed by the
Department of Conservation and Recreation
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is ...
.
[
In October 2018, ]Boston Mayor
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four-y ...
Marty Walsh
Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...
announced a comprehensive climate change adaptation
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.) InClimat ...
proposal to protect the Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States.
History
Since ...
coastline from flooding
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
, and in October 2020, the Walsh administration released a 174-page climate change adaptation report for the Boston Harbor coastline in Dorchester. In February 2022, Massachusetts Governor
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachusetts ...
Charlie Baker
Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was a cabinet official under two governors of Massach ...
announced an $8.2 million project to construct a 0.7-mile shared-use path
A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...
from Tenean Beach to Morrissey Boulevard
Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester, Boston, Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Route descrip ...
and that will connect the Boston Harborwalk
Boston Harborwalk is a public walkway that follows the edge of piers, wharves, beaches, and shoreline around Boston Harbor. When fully completed it will extend a distance of from East Boston to the Neponset River.
History
The Harborwalk is a coo ...
with the Neponset River Reservation
Neponset River Reservation is a Massachusetts state reservation along the Neponset River in the towns of Milton and Dorchester, near where the river flows through an estuary into the Boston Harbor. It is adjacent to the Dorchester-Milton Lower ...
via Morrissey (including a 670-foot boardwalk
A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...
in the salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
es near the National Grid gas tank) that will be included in the $9.5 billion in federal funds the state government received under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and originally in the House as the INVEST in America ActH.R. 3684, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress ...
. In August 2022, Governor Baker signed into law a bill co-sponsored by Massachusetts State Senator
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...
Nick Collins
Nicholas Cordell Collins (born August 16, 1983) is a former American football safety who played seven seasons for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Bethune-Cookman, and was drafted by ...
and Massachusetts State Representative Daniel J. Hunt establishing a Dorchester Shores Reservation and Parks Trust Fund administered by the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs to ensure the long-term conservation, maintenance and improvement of Reservation properties.
Activities and amenities
*Malibu Beach: Swimming and bathhouse.
*Savin Hill Beach: Swimming, sports fields, tot-lot playground.
*Tenean Beach: Swimming, playground, tennis and basketball courts.
*Victory Road Park: The park occupies a reclaimed landfill and is designed for passive use.
*The reservation also offers picnicking, restrooms, concessions, fishing, first aid, and information.
See also
* List of parks in Boston
Boston, Massachusetts has an extensive park and open space network that is managed by several agencies including the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. Parks cover about 17% of the city's area, and all residents are within a 10-minute wal ...
References
External links
Dorchester Shores Reservation
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Dorchester Shores Reservation Map
Department of Conservation and Recreation
{{authority control
State parks of Massachusetts
Parks in Boston
Dorchester, Boston
Protected areas established in 1962
1962 establishments in Massachusetts