Energy and environmental bill contains good things for the Esplanade

by Sandra Miller

A lot of sailors and parks enthusiasts breathed a sigh of relief after Governor Deval Patrick signed a $1.64 billion energy and environmental bond bill Thursday.
The bonds will launch Rep. Marty Walz’s $3.7 million amendment to fund new docks for Community Boating (CBI). However, the Community Boating Facility Pier Construction Project amendment approval “doesn’t mean the money is readily available,” said Walz. “This is just the first step in a multi-step process.”
Now it’s a race against time for CBI, The money is an authorization, not an appropriation, so CBI will be especially anxious to get the new docks in time for 2010, when it will host the annual Mallory Trophy. To be co-hosted with MIT and the Mass Bay League, the 80th annual Mallory Trophy will bring more than 100 families around the country to watch their high schoolers compete along the Charles.
CBI needs the new docks to be completed before the Trophy event, which is in May 2010. With such a complicated project, a lot can happen between now and May 2010, when the competition will be held.
“We’ve worked closely with the DCR on design and engineering, and with the Legislature,” said Zechel. “We’ve been advocating for this for five years now. Some of our docks go back to the 1970s and 1980s, and some go further back.” In 2003, CBI also made significant repairs to 50 feet of dock to repair some structural failure. CBI has much experience in seeing projects being held up by delays in obtaining materials.
“The bill takes it one step closer to happening, but we still need to advocate for [the new docks.] We’re not going to do all of it in September.”
Zechel said first the current docks would be demolished, which must happen during the off-season. Then new pilings would need to be driven, and the docks built and installed. “This could start in September to December, if the materials are available, and then the contractors can move very quickly,” Zechel added.
Walz is also a little nervous. “The docks may not even be done by May 2010. We’ll have to factor that tournament into the scheduling, but it’s not the Legislature’s decision to rebuild the docks, it’s ultimately the DCR’s. I will advocate on behalf of Community Boating.”
The Mallory Trophy is a fleet racing national championship among the nation’s private and public high schools, and is school sailing’s oldest trophy. It is administrated by the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA), which governs secondary school sailing in the United States, in both independent and public high schools.
“These trophies rotate through regions of the country,” said Charles Zechel, executive director of Community Boating Inc. “You bid on it, like the Olympics. There’s not many community sailing programs that can host this. We need some help because of the number of boats needed, so MIT and Mass Bay League is helping. It’s a big stepping stone for us because we don’t usually have the ability to host competitive international sailing regattas, because they are usually by people who bring their own boats.”
“We’ve matured to the point we can host a national event. There will be an expense to it,” he said. “We’ll be using our safety launches, staff, our time, our boats. Over the next two years, we’ll be doing some fundraising.”
Zechel and Walz expect that the tournament won’t have a negative impact on the surrounding community, since the student sailors will be split among the MIT and CBI locations. “It’ll be the same numbers when we’re busy,” Zechel said, but he expected that local hotels and restaurants would benefit from the event.
CBI board member Gary du Moulin saidthe new docks will also improve wheelchair accessibility for its new Universal Access program. “Our facility will be 100 percent accessible,” said du Moulin. “The docks are old. Access for wheelchairs is an effort.”
“Community boating as an organization is doing real good things,” said the director, noting its $1 membership for kids and sailors with disabilities.
At $616.3 million, the level of support provided for parks and other DCR assets is more than twice as much as authorized by the 2002 bond bill, said a spokesman from the governor’s office. Included are $205.7 million for DCR parks and reservations, beaches, harbor islands, swimming pools, campgrounds and hiking and biking trails; and $325 million to repair and reconstruct DCR bridges – including critical spans across the Charles River in Boston. This is in addition to the $900 million included in the accelerated bridge program, which will rehabilitate all of DCR’s structurally deficient bridges.
“This is an important investment for residents across the commonwealth,” Senate President Therese Murray said in a press release. “No matter where you live, people place great value on their parks, beaches and recreational areas. It’s a quality of life issue, and this law will make sure that our open space and recreational facilities maintain their appeal and functionality.”