Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-08-15
BOSTON'S WATER PARK
Proposed Scheme to Improve
the Back Bay District.
PLEASURE GROUNDS FOB PUBLIC.


River Pleasures Some of the Fea-
lures.
| The governor of Massachusetts and
council expect to receive in a few days
the preliminary report of the new
| Charles river basin commission for
the Improvement of the Back Bay dis
| trict of Boston which is not yet filled
in and which is susceptible to develop
ment as Il great water park. Boston
hopes to have here the most unique
and handsome pleasure grounds for
the public, combined with a wide area
of water, which can be found in any
city in the United States, says the
special correspondent of the New York
! Post.
A permanent level of high water is
the first desideratum in this dream of
a beautiful land and water view. To
secure this the legislature this year
passed the act for the building of the
! Charles r1.er dam at or near the site
| of the present Craigie bridge. This is
the foundation of the entire enterprise.
A million and a half dollars is to be
/ spent, according to the estimates, in
/ building this dam. Over its ample
width of 100 feet at the top will be not
| only a highway to supplant the re-
moved bridge, but such proportion of
parks or parkway as the commission
sees fit. A lock of sufficient size viii
preserve all rights of commerce to the
use of the wharfs above the DAM
| The United States government, which
owns a wharf at the WATERFOWL ar
Senal, six miles or more up the river,
has Il veto upon the entire enterprise.
| That wharf can be reached only by
drawbridges. and the Charles above
Craigie bridge is a part of navigable
waters. But it is expected that the
| consent of the government Will be
given without opposition.
One provision of the law is that the
water above the new dam must be at
! least eight feet above the water below,
figured by the Boston base. Therefore
tides viii never enter into the region
/ again. Only fresh water will flow in.
The current will be very slow, for the
volume of the Charles is not large
when all tide water is removed. and
the water above the dam will be per-
! manently as safe as a mill pond and
nearly as free from currents. A high
| level can be maintained, and banks
can be grassed to the waters edge
without any ebbing tide twice a day
to expose flats of nOisome mud, as ut
present.
One feature of the enterprise is the
construction Of an esplanade 100 feet
wide all along the Boston side south
from the West Boston bridge to the
right angle which brings the water OF
the river near the Public garden, and
thence westward all along the rear OF
the ariStocratic section which backs
upon the river and fronts on Beacon
street. Half way up this side lived
Oliver Wendell Holmes. The house
is still in possession OF the family. The
University club is in the same locality.
and plenty of fine residences may be
added to the list of buildings which
will profit immensely by the improve
ment. Their most beautiful side would
be where are now their back entrances,
and i proper recognition of the situa-
ton would require a reconstruction Of
the water side of the houses. Over on
the Cambridge side the scene will be
duplicated. Already, farther up the
river, the yellow signbOards bearing
the legend Charles River Reserva-
ton" erected by the metropolitan park
commission, show how the thrifty and
nature loving people of the district
have pre-empted the borders of the
river before real estate has become too
valuable, and private interests have
been warned that they are trespassers
and must stand aside when the all
powerful and imperative public wishes
to enjoy Il clear view of the water or
=
The banks of the Charles up through
WATERFOWL, Waltham. Newton and
Needham, to Dedham, have been taken
for the public 10y the metropolitan park
commission. The policy Of the state in
aiding the enterprise is similar to that
in establishing mountain park reserva-
tions.
When the system is complete there
will be boating up the Charles for over
fifteen miles to Dedham. There are
falls at Watertown. again at Waltham,
and again at Newton Lower Falls and
Newton Upper Falls, but portages for
canoes and locks for river steamboats,
will make it possible to traverse this
distance and enjoy one of the most
charming river trips in the country.
Nearer Boston there is Il further
| CHapIeA W OHS StOlN- NASH 1HS he"
dam is finished the water in the Fen
way, which is in the limits of the city
and surrounded by the made land, will
be on the same level as the water in
the Charles river basin. Boats aud
canoes will have free entrance into this
large and adorned part of Boston's
aristocratic section. improved by all
that landscape engineers with liberal
appropriations can accomplish. If fur
Their improvements now contemplated
are realized, quite an excursion can be
made by water up the river in this di-
rection also, always in the midst of
scenes where nature has been beau
tilted by art