A new ferry terminal on the Mystic? Boston, Everett officials team up to restore old pumping station.
'We're really excited about it,' said Patrick Herron, executive director of the
Kathy Abbott, chief executive of the nonprofit
The conversations around the pumphouse, currently owned by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, started a few years ago, long before state lawmakers approved legislation in November that rezones the adjacent site for a soccer stadium. That legislation removes the site next door, home to a shuttered power plant, from what's known as a Designated Port Area, where only marine industrial uses can be developed. However, per state officials, the legislation left the pumphouse property in the DPA. That could pose a challenge to any redevelopment of the site, although a ferry terminal would be an allowed use within the zone. Other challenges include the limited space for parking and a dilapidated seawall that needs to be shored up.
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Herron said he expects state regulators would be willing to remove the site from the DPA because it's not currently home to an industrial use. (The MWRA stopped pumping at the facility in 1993, replacing it with a more modern facility across the street, though an active sewer pipe passes under one portion of the 1890s building.)
Everett and Boston officials are also engaged in discussions about a harborwalk extension that would bring the path along the Mystic River
In
However, the Revs and Patriots ownership is not currently involved in the talks around the pumphouse's future.
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Stacy Thompson, interim executive director at
'There's so much potential,' Thompson said. 'Could it be a ferry station or a landing point? Yes. Could it be something else that serves the community? Yes. We're not there yet [but] we're getting closer to understanding what's possible.'
Jon Chesto can be reached at
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