By Michael Coughlin Jr.
Representatives from the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina (BHSM) joined the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association’s (JPNA) monthly meeting last week to discuss its investment plan, which would bring meaningful upgrades to the site for the first time since the 1940s.
Last week’s meeting marks the third time folks from BHSM have come before the JPNA to discuss the investment plan, which has origins dating back to 2018 when Ocean Havens purchased the property.
As part of the project, BHSM plans on making an abundance of improvements, whether that be to infrastructure, the marina, or bike and pedestrian access. Moreover, there are plans to construct a container village and more.
To see these plans in-depth, you can visit BHSM’s website — https://www.bhsmarina.com/investment-plan — which has a page dedicated to the proposal.
“All of us who live and work around Boston Harbor see the growth of water transportation. In addition to that, folks we’re going to see, and we’re seeing it right, off-shore, the windfarm industry, and all these vessels need to have a location where they can be hauled, repaired, and put back into the harbor, and that does not exist in Boston Harbor today,” said Ann Lagasse, a Principal of Ocean Havens, describing why the investment plan is happening.
“What this site does — the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina DPA — is a designated port area to support the working waterfront, and that’s what we’re trying to do; that’s what this is all about. That we create a setting by repairing piers, by buying travel lifts, by building marine sheds to repair these vessels,” she added.
Following Lagasse’s remarks, BHSM’s General Manager Marshall Greenland presented to those in attendance and went through several aspects of the project.
First, Greenland spoke about vehicle and pedestrian safety, which he called an “important point” for the shipyard.
Specifically, he walked through a slide that showed future site circulation and spoke about “increased pedestrian areas” and the continued focus on truck access and safety.
He then went on to speak about parking needs and improvements. Greenland spoke about upgrading the entry gates on both sides of Marginal Street and redesigning the marina lot’s parking layout.
Greenland also explained that parking availability will increase due to infrastructure improvements in parking areas.
The dimensions for the four new buildings slated to be constructed as part of the plan were also discussed. Building one is planned as a travel lift and shipyard maintenance shop, building two is proposed to have shop and office space, building three will also have space for shops and offices along with a community room while building four will be a vessel maintenance and repair shed according to BHSM’s website.
Building one is slated to be 100 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 30 feet tall. Building two is planned to be 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 35 feet tall. Building three will be 182 feet long, 51 feet wide, and 35 feet tall. Finally, building four is designed to be 225 feet long, 125 feet wide, and 65 feet tall.
Greenland expanded on the dimensions for building four, the largest of the proposed buildings, and said, “These dimensions are necessary due to the work and the size of the vessels that we’ll be putting in this shed.”
Additionally, he went through the previous design iterations of building four and how it has progressed in terms of its proximity to Marginal Street and height. Specifically, the building is now set back from Marginal Street and has decreased in height by 30 feet.
Moreover, Greenland went through a sight study for building four from different Marginal and Webster Streets areas.
Lastly, Greenland highlighted some other aspects that he did not expand on as he mentioned they are still early on in the process. Some of these aspects were a shadow study, traffic study, mitigation plans for things like dust and noise, and more.
As for upcoming scheduled plans, Greenland explained that this year and going into 2025, permitting and site work would be done.
Following the presentation, the representatives from BHSM took many questions and requests from the JPNA.
Notably, the JPNA Board has requested that BHSM enter into a Transportation Plan Action Agreement with the Boston Transportation Department, citing traffic and safety issues on Orleans and Marginal Streets.
Though Lagasse did not commit to the request, she indicated that they would get back to the JPNA about it.
The approval process for the project was brought up and was addressed by Jamie Fay, Permitting Consultant, for the investment plan.
Fay explained that a list of required permits for the project is being put together. He also explained that “most of the shipyard” is subject to review from the Boston Conservation Commission.
Moreover, Fay spoke about other entities that would potentially review the project, such as Massport (Massachusetts Port Authority), the shipyard landlord.
Regarding safety, someone had asked if the shipyard had an emergency action plan in case of an industrial accident.
“Any site like ours does have emergency plans for any type of emergency, whether it’s fire or weather or anything like that. That’s something that we keep, it’s something that, you know, that we review and update,” said Greenland.
There was also a request to expand the sight line studies to include buildings one through three, which Greenland seemed to be amendable about and would discuss with the project architects.
Truck traffic was also a big discussion point during the question and answer portion of the meeting. BHSM has not conducted a formal traffic study, per Greenland.
However, he said, “We understand that trucks do get lost time to time. It’s kind of the nature of it, whether it’s these apps or whatever else that they’re using, but we’re continuing to work to minimize those lost vehicles because it’s an impact to the community, it’s also an impact to us and the businesses in the shipyard.”
As the meeting continued, several other topics were discussed, such as potential grant applications, resiliency, construction and environmental impacts, and much more.
If you would like to view the entire presentation and question and answer session concerning the BHSM investment plan, you can visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNgLNqsZwQo&ab_channel=JeffriesPointNeighborhoodAssociation.
The JPNA is slated to meet again on February 12th, and in the coming months, representatives from BHSM will return to the association.