LITTLE MYSTIC CHANNEL PARK

In partnership with the Charlestown community, the City of Boston and Massport, MyRWA is advancing the development of a high-quality park along the Little Mystic Channel and enabling more opportunities for waterfront recreation, access to nature, social gatherings and climate resiliency.

Steering Committee

The Little Mystic Channel Steering Committee (the “LMCSC”) is a coalition of Charlestown community leaders working together to shape the goals, outreach strategy and design for Little Mystic Channel Park. Through participation in the LMCSC, members are encouraged to engage their community, further MyRWA’s commitment to equity and inclusion, and help to amplify voices of individuals that have previously gone unheard.

Meet our current LMCSC members!

Intiya Ambrogi-Isaza

Victor Castro

Marius Gallitano

Sean Boyle

Shamilia Lloyd

Lana Tager

Yee Wong

Projects

Little Mystic Plaza

MyRWA led the design and implementation of a plaza revitalization project adjacent Barry Field and CharlesNewtown Housing. Completed in 2025 and located on the Boston Harborwalk, the project transformed 9,000 square feet of exposed asphalt into a lush open space with 52 shade trees, accessible lawn, ample seating, and a public mural, and will serve as a refuge during increasingly hot summer temps.

MyRWA also received a small grant to design and implement multilingual interpretive signage at the plaza. Each tree will receive its own identification tag, and eight panels will share information about how each tree species benefits their natural habitat and local communities.

The project was made possible with permission from Boston Public Schools and generous support from the Boston Community Preservation Act (CPA) program, the Barr Foundation, and the Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation.

Little Mystic Harborwalk Extension

Scheduled for construction in 2026 and 2027, the Little Mystic Harborwalk Extension project will fill in the last remaining gap of the Boston Harborwalk around the Little Mystic Channel! Once completed, the new segment will extend 1000 feet from the harborwalk’s existing terminus at the Little Mystic Boat Ramp and includes a 10-foot wide accessible path, shaded seating, native plantings, and exercise equipment.

The project has been made possible with permission from the Boston Planning Department and generous support from the Massachusetts Port Authority, City of Boston, the Boston CPA, the Barr Foundation, the Commonwealth of Massachusett’s Masstrails program, and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Little Mystic Urban Meadow

The Little Mystic Urban Meadow project envisions a welcoming new area for native plantings and community programming. Located between Charlestown Sprouts Community Garden and the Little Mystic Boat Ramp on the Boston Harborwalk, the currently unprogrammed open space seeks to support local pollination activities and serve as a hub for nature-based educational programming in the Charlestown neighborhood. New ADA-accessible paths and an open lawn will be nestled among a lush meadow landscape fitting for its marine setting.

The project is currently in its pre-permitting design stage and is being made possible with permission from Boston Public Schools and generous support from the City of Boston’s GrowBoston program and the Barr Foundation.

Little Mystic Boat Ramp

The Little Mystic Boat Ramp project seeks to modernize one of only two public boat ramps within Boston city limits. The envisioned improvements seeks to improve public access and climate resilience at the site, including a new accessible public dock and passive recreation features. A new ceremonial rock garden will provide space for community gathering and is being designed to optimally support events hosted by Boston’s indigenous community.

The project is currently in its preliminary design stage - see right or click here to view a conceptual plan.

Other Projects

There are other projects which are contributing to the realization of a fully completed Little Mystic Channel Park!

• Barry Playground Improvements: Boston Parks Department is updating Barry Playground to support community recreation and climate resilience. The plan retains and upgrades core athletic uses while adding: a fully accessible walking loop, new shade canopy, spray play and misting elements for cooling, multi-generational fitness, gathering spaces, a resilient landscape berm to address sea-level rise, and a small food forest for harvesting edible fruits. Construction is scheduled to commence in 2027. Click here to view a conceptual plan.

• Barry Playground Connector: The Barry Playground Connector, completed in 2024 by the Massachusetts Port Authority, introduced an ADA accessible pedestrian and bicycle connection between Barry Playground and Chelsea Street. This missing link in the Boston Harborwalk’s 42-mile network now allows residents and visitors of the Charlestown community to easily travel between the Little Mystic Channel and Navy Yard.

• Charlestown Sprouts Community Garden: The Charlestown Sprouts Community Garden is “a welcoming natural space in Boston that brings together diverse people of all ages to grow, harvest, share, & eat healthy food.” Led by a registered 501c3 non-profit organization, this garden which serves majority immigrant and low-income residents has received renewed investment in recent years, allowing more community members to be served with new and improved garden beds and facilities.

• Charlestown High School Athletic Fields: In 2024, the athletic fields at Charlestown High School received resurfacing, allowing improved opportunities for year-round youth and adult recreation.

• Intersection at Chelsea St & Terminal St: The site of a tragic pedestrian fatality in 2021, this intersection will be improved for safety through the introduction of a traffic signal with a dedicated pedestrian phase. A new crosswalk will connect the future Harborwalk Extension project to existing sidewalk facilities on Chelsea Street.

Progress

2025: Two hundred community members celebrated the opening of the Little Mystic Plaza in June! Pictured at right, the new plaza hosts 52 shade trees, reduced impervious surface, ample seating, and a public mural, and will serve as a refuge during increasingly hot summer temps.

2024: The first construction on the Little Mystic Channel broke ground for improvements to the Little Mystic Plaza in September, 2024 and is expected to continue until spring of 2025.

2023: Designs for the boat ramp parcel, CharlesNewtown Plaza, and Harborwalk Extension Path continue to be advanced (click links for most recent designs) with guidance from our Little Mystic Channel Steering Committee.

2022: Construction neared completion for the Barry Field Connector walkway. Designs were also advanced for the boat ramp parcel, CharlesNewtown Plaza, and Harborwalk extension path. For the boat ramp parcel, you can view summary of feedback and check back soon for event announcements and design updates for open space improvements.

2021: Our work with the LMCSC began in July of 2021. After a few months of onboarding, we held a virtual public meeting December 9, 2021, where we shared initial design concepts as informed by our outreach and discussions with the community. Watch the meeting recording here and view the presentation below.

2018-2020: A robust engagement process with hundreds of residents resulted in the creation of a shared-vision for new and enhanced open spaces and active transportation routes connecting people to the Lower Mystic River. Learn about the outreach, design ideas and opportunities from this first phase of work in the links below or watch this short video.

Lower Mystic Overview (2019)

Open House Posters (2019)

Community Feedback (2018)

Survey Results (2020)

Resources

To learn more about MyRWA’s work in the Charlestown neighborhood, read this blog post - What is MyRWA Working on in Charlestown? (Summer 2025)

City of Boston projects relevant to this effort include Climate Ready Boston and Rutherford Avenue/Sullivan Square Design Project. Funding is provided in part by the Barr Foundation, the Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation, and the George Henderson Foundation.

Share Your Thoughts

To share comments, please contact: Karl Alexander, Greenways Program Senior Manager, karl.alexander@mysticriver.org, 781-316-3438.