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Boston could soon be getting to work on a signature park along Fort Point Channel.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh Wednesday outlined plans to put a “landmark new green space’’ along the downtown waterway, linking Fort Point, Chinatown and South Boston with a string of islands, marshes and pedestrian bridges he said would be a “new jewel in our park system.’’
The city will partner with the Trustees of the Reservations, which has been working for two years to design a signature new park on Boston’s waterfront. Together they plan to “reimagine’’ the old industrial channel — where General Electric is building a gleaming new headquarters, but which is also lined on one side by Gillette, and on the other by a huge US Postal Service distribution facility — turning it into a space that would draw visitors from across the city while sparking new development nearby.
“[These parks] will foster new possibilities for growth from South Station to Widett Circle,’’ Walsh said in a speech before the Boston Chamber of Commerce, where he announced the plan. “They will be a new jewel in our park system, accessible by public transit in a Boston for everyone.’’
How the park network would be funded was not immediately clear, though the Trustees have said it expects to raise significant private donations for its park project and the city has more frequently been turning to developers to help finance parks near their projects.
Fort Point and its offshoots run from Boston Harbor to the low-lying area where the South End meets South Boston, and city officials said they envision a park network that links those neighborhoods to the Harborwalk and downtown waterfront.
They also see the park network as a way to help protect several low-lying parts of the city from rising sea levels, by building in greenspace and marshes that could absorb storm surge and floodwaters.
Trustees chief excutive Barbara Erickson — whose group is among the largest private landowners in Massachusetts but has done little in Boston — said she’s looking forward to the project.
“The Trustees stand ready as a strategic partner with the City of Boston, to implement the Mayor’s vision of equitable open space and climate resiliency along Fort Point Channel for all Bostonians,’’ she said in a statement. “Our 126 years of land management experience along with our ability to generate community support makes the Trustees uniquely able to help see this vision become a reality.’’
