I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold.

3/29/2011 Uncategorized

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At the place where the Mystic and the Charles meet lies a pier, wagging its empty finger at the North End. This place is Pier 5. Long empty and fenced off, the BRA is scheduled to issue an RFP in the next couple of weeks to develop this prime waterfront parcel. For those familiar with the history of the Navy Yard, you’ll know this isn’t the first time (and maybe not the last) that redevelopment attempts have been made. Nevertheless, the eternal optimist in me and now-interested Charlestown community member and resident still hopes for the best.

To that end, I attended a Charlestown Neighborhood Council meeting last week at the Constitution Inn in the Navy Yard to learn more: “Pier 5 sits almost dead center among the Navy Yard “finger” piers, situated between the Courageous Sailing Center on Pier 4 and Tavern on the Water on Pier 6. Pier 5, at 125 feet wide, is broader than others at the Navy Yard. It also has the outermost reach, of 650 feet, into Boston Harbor. Originally, it was built of wood in 1911-1912, but rebuilt in February 1941 to better accommodate ships for World War II. The new concrete pier, which still stands today, was first concrete finger pier in the Navy Yard.”

Today, the concrete is in poor shape, but the views of the city skyline (taken via iPhone from one of my favorite perches at Tavern on the Water) are killer. One hopes that the development ideas are just as spectacular.

-Corey