Millennium Park is a 100 acre
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
in the
West Roxbury
West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the town of Brookline to the north, the cities and towns of Newton and Needham to the northwest and the town of Dedham to the ...
neighborhood 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 ...
,
.
History
The park began as the Gardner Street
Landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
for the city of Boston. Construction began in 1994 to reclaim the area as a park using land excavated in the
Big Dig
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4& ...
, and it was officially opened on December 7, 2000 by then
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
Tom Menino.
Activities and Amenities
The park is well connected to neighboring parks and trails. It is adjacent to the
Brook Farm Historical site and the
Upper Charles River Reservation
The Upper Charles River Reservation is a Massachusetts state park encompassing portions of the banks of the Charles River between the Watertown Dam in Watertown and Riverdale Park in Dedham and the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. The park ...
, and is close to the
VFW Parkway
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway (referred to locally as the VFW Parkway) is a historic parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Washington Street at the Dedham-West Roxbury border, from where it trave ...
.
It contains conservation land, 25 acres of sports fields, children's play areas, and a canoe launch on the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
.
Image gallery
File:Millennium Park P1000172.jpg, Canoe launch
File:Millennium Park P1000176.jpg, Soccer field
File:Millennium Park P1120910.jpg, Great Blue Heron in a marsh
File:Millennium Park P1020186.jpg, Flowers on the side of the hill formed by the capped landfill
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
{{Parks in Boston
Parks in Boston
Parks in Massachusetts