Charles River Conservancy

CONTACT:

4 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-619-2850
www.thecharles.org

Renata von Tscharner, founder and president

DESCRIPTION:

Through Charles Eliot’s philanthropic vision, the Charles River Parklands were established in the 1880s as open space that would be a permanent green amenity for urban Boston. In 1999 landscape architect and urban planner Renata von Tscharner was teaching a Radcliffe Seminar on urban design featuring the Parklands, and she realized how mismanagement, budget cuts and a lack of citizen involvement had compromised Eliot’s vision. So she philanthropically created CRC to be a convener, mobilizer, fundraiser, and advocate for the Parklands to its state-agency owner, its 20,000 daily users, and its 300,000 neighbors who are passive beneficiaries. CRC works with government agencies, community organizations, corporations, and groups of citizens to restore and enhance the 500 acres of Parklands from the Boston Harbor to the Watertown Dam. Last year, 1300 volunteers at 55 Conservancy events helped out with clean-ups, children’s programs, an award-winning book, and Parklands Ambassadors to answer users’ questions. A $10,000 private grant for pedestrian bridges leveraged $300,000 from the state to repaint them. Now, capital funds are needed for bridge lighting, and to build the Charles River Skatepark. This is your opportunity to join in and help light the way into the Parklands’ new century.

(2004: NATURE: Environment: Land, Air, Water, Climate)