Moakley Park Resilience Plan

The Moakley Park Resilience Plan radically transforms a single-use recreational facility into a resilient, inclusive, and multi-faceted 21st century community park. Abutting 30 acres of waterfront in South Boston, this 60-acre park is a critical missing link in Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. Accessible by public transportation and within 15 minutes of a very diverse set of neighborhoods, Moakley is poised to address the city’s most pressing climate resilience, social justice, and community health and welfare priorities. This plan places community input at the fore, tackling sea level rise, stormwater management, biodiversity, and heat-island effect in tandem with safety, access, health, and recreation for all ages, abilities, and cultural backgrounds. The design re-stitches Moakley into both the urban fabric and natural landscape, physically, socially, and culturally, taking cues from the environment, community, and stakeholders. The end result is an equitable, safe, and ecologically diverse park that protects the vulnerable at its edges as well as large portions of the city beyond from devastating coastal flooding.