Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina held an Open House and Investment Plan Information Session on September 28 to explain their proposed improvements for the aging 25-acre facility, and offer an opportunity for those interested to ask questions, as many Jeffries Point residents feel that their voices have been unheard, and their inquiries ignored during moderated meetings.
“My biggest concern is for my family,” said Bill Jennings, father of a toddler and infant. “The commercial building proposed for boat repair is big. They don’t know how tall the roof will be. It’s a significant building on the lowest part of the neighborhood. The Jeffries Point community is trying to understand, and is extremely concerned about communication.”
The Marginal Street resident expressed his worries about pollution, rats, and cancer-causing chemicals that could become airborne.
“There are a lot of people who are pro-development – including myself – but there is a laundry list of concerns,” noted Jennings.
Neighbors in attendance emphasized their discontentment about the most recent design, sharing their opinions on graving docks, air quality, and sight lines.
“I know that it seems like a long time between meetings, but we’re working with engineers and architects all the time getting this together,” explained Marshall Greenland, General Manager, Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina. “We can’t put up an architectural mockup until it’s a complete concept. Architecture will show what we intend the buildings to look like.”
Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina has major infrastructure issues with flooding and plans to reconstruct buildings according to the City of Boston’s environmental codes to protect the site from storms and rising sea levels.
According to Greenland, federal and climate resiliency funding has been directed into the state for raising headwalls and other improvements. Most of Boston’s marine construction is based out of the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina because there are no other facilities in the harbor that companies can operate out of.
“The type of infrastructure for larger boats is in high demand in Boston Harbor. There really is nowhere else in the harbor that does it,” Greenland pointed out. “We’re losing our ability to do it because of sink holes, and the conditions of the piers and headwalls.”
The investment project is anticipated to cost a minimum of $12 million to repair and build new piers and headwalls, add travel lifts, and update and maintain the existing facility to be able to service the industry. Greeland explained that new revenue streams must be generated in addition to sustaining current ones to meet the demands of today’s market.
“This site was built to meet the demands of the 1940s. In the 1850s it was wooden clipper ships and graving docks. They services war-era military ships,” said Greenland. “In the late 1980s, when Massport bought the site, it started becoming more mixed-use with multiple tenants across the yard. We still do ship repairs, but now we have a marina and boat storage, and do a lot of commercial berthing.”
Although Massport owns the property, Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina has been the long-term ground lease owner since 2018, and is responsible for controlling and maintaining the site.
“What people don’t see is the business – the marine industrial operations. Because of the nature of activities, the back is a restricted area,” described Greeland. “We want to walk people back there, and explain the improvements we want to do, and the conditions that need to be fixed.”
Learn more about Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina’s investment plan by visiting www.BHSMarina.com/investment-plan.