1. Introductory.
2. Overview.
3. Here are the plans.
1. Introductory.
Last night, September 26, 2016, the Cambridge Conservation Commission had a preliminary meeting with the Department of Conservation and Recreation on the DCR’s latest plans for destruction on Magazine Beach.
The CCC provided us with a copy of the plans, and I am passing the key plans on to you.
2. Overview.
In order to better understand what we are dealing with, here are three overviews of the Magazine Beach area.
The first is a map published by the City of Cambridge in 2010. Running from the narrowness at the far left, first you have the western end. Then (see the green rectangle) you have the swimming pool area. Then you have the hill area between the Swimming Pool and the playing fields. The connected lines are paths in the hill area. The open area is the playing fields, followed by their parking lot and then the state's sewerage treatment plant, most of which is covered with grass. The line open area at the far right is the BU Bridge. The crescent shape above it are ramps to and from Memorial Drive. The green area to the far right is the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese. At the bottom is the Charles River. At the top are buildings in the built up part of Cambridge, the Cambridgeport neighborhood.
I have spent a lot of time discussing the future home of the Harvard Medical School on the south side of the Charles. Here is a portion of a map of the plans there imprinted on a satellite photo. In this photo, Magazine Beach runs diagonally from lower left (west / left above) to the sewerage treatment plant at the upper right, with the Charles, again, below.
The orange line at the bottom right is the border of the highway (Mass. Pike, I-90) study area which includes the Harvard Medical School.
Here is the corresponding satellite photo from the destruction plans.
3. Here are the plans.
The DCR has broken the destruction area into four parts, the Western Area, the Swimming Pool Area, the hill between the Swimming Pool and the Playing Fields, and the Playing Fields. These run from west to east. The playing fields are nearest the BU Bridge and the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.
The playing fields were the principal home and feeding grounds of the Charles River White Geese for most of the last 35 years until the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the City of Cambridge walled them off from the Charles River to starve the Charles River White Geese.
Here is a source map from the destruction plans showing the division of the area into the four parts.
In each instance, trees slated for destruction are marked with a 0 with an X over it.
The latter two plans were too wide to put each on one page so there is a division with an area duplicated in the middle.
Western End
Swimming Pool Area
Hill, between Swimming Pool and Playing Fields
Playing Fields
