OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS
CONTEXT AND HISTORY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
DESIGN ISSUES
PLANNING PROCESSES

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OWNERSHIP:
-- American Legion Highway itself is being repaved and is undergoing other improvements with State funds,
but City agencies have been involved in planning and maintenance for the highway.
-- The City compost facility and the community gardens are on land owned by the Massachusetts Audubon
Society. The Public Works Department runs the compost facility for the city and the gardener group is
incorporated.
-- Canterbury Brook is the responsibility of the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) and Boston
Water and Sewer Commission. Ownership of the brook and floodplain property may be passed on to the
Massachusetts Audubon Society, but not until remediation efforts have been carried out and the brook is
deemed safe and clean.
-- The private compost facility Greenleaf Compost, as well as a large parking lot, are on land owned by the
Metropolitan District Commission. Greenleaf has a temporary permit to operate in this location.
-- St. Michaels Cemetery is owned by the Italian Catholic Cemetery Association.

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CONDITIONS:
This section of American Legion Highway cuts between two large open spaces. Two compost facilities are virtually across the street from one another -- one run by the City and the other private. The Massachusetts Audubon Society's Boston Nature Center is adjacent to the City compost facility to the south, and the private compost center lies on MDC property, which includes significant open space, a sprawling underused parking lot, and the St. Michaels Cemetery.

Edges:
Before the winter of 2002, this stretch of American Legion Highway was characterized by broken, rusty, vertical wrought iron fencing and trash. There were large and small gaps in the fence in some places, while in others it was twisted or askew. In some places, the fence had been supplemented with chain-link fencing that gave the edge a "patched up" appearance. According to Greg Murphy, CEO of Greenleaf Composting, City employees were vigilant in their removal of trash along the highway. Nonetheless, trash, including many large items such as tires, was a consistent problem in the appearance of the area.

Although the problem of trash persists and the fence is still in terrible condition at many points along the highway, the situation is changing in 2002. The Massachusetts Audubon Society has invested more than $100,000 in replacing the fencing along the highway. Julie Brandlin, director of the Boston Nature Center, plans to re-fence most of the northwestern border of the Nature Center along the American Legion Highway if sufficient funds become available.

Greg Murphy refers to this part of American Legion Highway as "Compost Alley" because both of the composting operations in the city operate here and the organic waste is also temporarily stored at the Franklin Park Maintenance Yard. The City compost facility operates in the northwest corner of the Boston Nature Center property; Greenleaf Composting operates on the other side of the highway on MDC property; and the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department's maintenance facility has a small compost operation within Franklin Park.

There are no sidewalks along this stretch of American Legion Highway, but it is possible to walk along the side of the road along the patchy grass. The east side of the road, where the Boston Nature Center is, is easier to navigate. At least two of the gaps in the fence are being used as makeshift paths for local residents on their way to the community gardens.

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CONTEXT and HISTORY:
See entry for American Legion Highway (as a whole).

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
Dumping:
As noted above, dumping is a major issue in this section of American Legion Highway, particularly in the City's compost facility and in the Boston Nature Center. The State's Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) has placed a security guard within the Nature Center to try to control the dumping on the western campus of the Boston State Hospital site. The guard patrols the external spaces, such as American Legion Highway, where people are likely to dump, as well as some of the internal spaces.

The guards and the Nature Center staff are struggling against the long-held notion held by some that the area is a no-mans-land good for dumping whatever people do not want. Julie Brandlin, director of the Boston Nature Center, has approached people in the process of dumping on the land who could not understand why she was preventing them from dumping, and did not consider the area private property.

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DESIGN ISSUES:
Compost facilities:
The City compost facility is virtually unmarked. According to Betsy Johnson, head of Garden Futures, this is in order to discourage dumping. The site has old signage that is partially blockaded by trees and shrubs, and it is far from the passage of traffic. There is a barely visible sign that says the operation is contributing to the environment and that one should not dump in it. Divers would not necessarily be able to differentiate the piles along American Legion Highway from a dump.

Greenleaf Composting, on the other hand, has a colorful sign at the entrance to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) parking lot on American Legion Highway. Tractors, bulldozers, and windrows of compost are visible from the highway. The various types of compost are well labeled and colorful. Greenleaf encourages visitation and sees the compost operation as an opportunity for public education.

Boston Nature Center signage:
Although there are signs announcing "Wildlife Sanctuary" in this area along American Legion Highway, there are no directions to the center and there is no trail information.

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PLANNING PROCESSES:
There is a State-funded planning process for highway reconstruction with no added capacity (see entry for American Legion Highway (as a whole)).

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