OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS
USE
CONTEXT
HISTORY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
DESIGN ISSUES
PLANNING PROCESSES
TESTIMONIES

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OWNERSHIP:
The Massachusetts Audubon Society (Mass Audubon) owns the sanctuary land, with the exception of the streambed of the Canterbury Brook, and the brook itself. These are owned by the State and are under the jurisdiction of the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM).

The George Robert White Fund, a public charitable trust of the City of Boston that was established in 1922, holds the title to the George Robert White Environmental Conservation Center and leases it to the Massachusetts Audubon Society at no fee for the benefit of Boston residents in perpetuity.

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CONDITIONS:
The Boston Nature Center is a 67-acre wildlife sanctuary with two miles of walking trails, 20-acres of wetlands, a wide range of plant and animal life, community gardens, and a new environmental conservation center. Places like the Boston Nature Center are redefining nature and bringing new energy into urban environmental education for local students, as well as for those living in the surrounding neighborhoods. The Nature Center helps Heart of the City residents experience and appreciate nature in previously unrecognized places, such as street trees, schoolyards, and in the vacant lots of urban neighborhoods.

The Nature Center lies within the ghostly remnants of the sprawling, 175-acre former Boston State Hospital site, which has been mostly vacant since the late 1970s. In 2003, few abandoned hospital buildings are standing, but a lattice of unused roads and parking lots remains. The Nature Center and the Clark-Cooper community gardeners, who have been active on the site since the late 1970s, provide a beautiful, eco-friendly addition to the site.

George Robert White Environmental Conservation Center:
The City of Boston led the planning for the George Robert White Environmental Conservation Center (ECC), a 8,500-square-foot facility that was completed in September 2002. The conservation center houses a range of environmental and nature programs, many of which are funded through a $2 million grant to Mass Audubon from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The facility was built to demonstrate how green design can be incorporated into any commercial, civic, or residential building. Boston school children can visit the building and monitor energy savings and non-polluting technologies at use in the building. It was built at a competitive price with features such as:

-- Photovoltaic roof shingles that will generate electricity

-- Solar thermal panels for water heating

-- Geo-thermal climate-control system that pumps water from thousands of feet below ground, where the temperature is relatively stable, to heat the house in winter and cool it in the summer

-- Passive solar vine trellis to create summer shade

-- Wood harvested from sustainable forestry operations

-- Furniture built from recycled materials

Other infrastructure of the Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary:
Since Mass Audubon bought the land from the City in 1996, the Boston Nature Center has been well on its way to transforming an area community members have referred to as a "no-man's land" into a cared-for, valued community resource. Mass Audubon established two miles of new trails through the property, with multiple wetland overlooks and a boardwalk. It replaced much of the dilapidated fencing that surrounded the State Hospital site with new wrought iron fencing through a grant from the Henderson Foundation. It renovated three administrative buildings. 

Despite improvements in signage and the perimeter of the stie, evidence of the long-term neglect of the area persist. Large sections of the perimeter of the Boston Nature Center have not yet been re-fenced and people have illegally dumped tires and trash inside and outside the fencing gaps. A wildlife sanctuary sign hangs right next to a rusty, dilapidated "20mph" sign for a road that no longer exists. Overgrown sidewalks and roads are blocked off by temporary cement blocks that give the area a forlorn appearance.

The paved roads within the Boston Nature Center are wide and overgrown. In some places they are covered in debris. It is unclear where visitors can or should walk through some sections of the Wildlife Sanctuary, or whether the area is safe. Parking lots and roads cut into parts of the sanctuary and then dribble off into nothing. Streetlights and fire hydrants contribute to the feeling that much of the sanctuary has not yet been reclaimed from its former uses. At the same time, there are signs throughout the area that claim the land as a Wildlife Sanctuary, and the formal trails through the Sanctuary present the cleanest and most interesting faces of the site.

Natural environment and trails:
There is a 20-acre wetland marshland on the site, in addition to the Canterbury Brook on the outskirts of the property. The wetland is circled by cottonwood trees that were planted in the 1800's. A 1995 survey revealed that at least 180 different species of plants and trees are on the Boston Nature Center property. Several of these are uncommon. Animals observed in the sanctuary include red-tailed hawks, red-winged blackbirds, skunks, squirrels, muskrats, and painted turtles.

The two miles of trails are covered with soft wood-chips that provide a firm surface for wheelchair access. Wetland boardwalks are designed to cause minimal damage to soils and are built from planks made of recycled cedar chips and plastic. One wetland boardwalk leads into a cattail swamp and an open viewing area, both of which are marked with special plaques. The trails are enclosed one moment -- leading you further in -- and open the next, revealing wide open spaces. Although you can hear American Legion Highway in the background, at times as you navigate the paths the bird life is also audible and varied. Deer, wild turkey, red-tailed hawks, and ring-neck pheasants are found in the sanctuary year-round.

Entrances and signage:
There are two formal entrances to the Boston Nature Center. The major entrance is from Walk Hill Street, and the second entrance is off of Morton Street. Other entrances to the property are informal entrances along American Legion Highway, where there are gaps in the fence. These gaps have been widely used by people wishing to access the Clark-Cooper Community Gardens. As Mass Audubon works to repair the fence along the highway, these entrances are being cut off. This will serve both to limit useful access by those who seek to use the facilities and to limit the illegal dumping that has plagued the area.

There is a sign for Mass Audubon and the Boston Nature Center on Morton Street that is small and difficult to read. The sign is at the entrance itself, which is not a natural stopping place, such that people driving through the area with the flow of traffic may not have enough time to read or respond to the sign. Once visitors have turned into the area, they must make their way through the maze of former Boston State Hospital site streets to the next Boston Nature Center sign.

A second sign at the Morton Street entrance reads "No Trespassing. State Property." The columns at the entrance are deteriorating. The fence at the entrance is also broken in some places. It is not clear from the sign that the public is invited to visit. There are two crosswalks here to facilitate access (from Harvard Street).

Throughout the Boston Nature Center -- along the edges, in the fields, on trees, next to old hospital roads -- there are identical "Wildlife Sanctuary" signs. These are small signs that list the rules of the Boston Nature Center sanctuary. The signs are found even deep in the site where there are no trails. They are found in places where the perimeter of the sanctuary is in poor condition and good condition.

There is a sign for Mass Audubon, the Boston Nature Center, and the community gardens, at the entrance at to the sanctuary on Walk Hill Street. Prior to January, 2002, there was also a sign next to the entrance to the Boston Nature Center that read, "NOTICE: STATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING." The competing signage was illustrative of the transition of the area. Likewise, the long, highly legible sign proclaiming the "Boston Nature Center" on the corner of Walk Hill Street and American Legion Highway (attached to the new wrought iron fence on the edge of a wetland) is complemented by an shopping cart that has been tossed over the fence into the water.

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USE:
Most use of the Boston Nature Center is through planned events rather than spontaneous visits. The Center/ Mass Audubon offers a range of one-day and on-going programs including service-learning projects for older teens such as removing invasive species and building gardens; livable environment seminars; habitat explorations; and a series of multi-day gardening classes. Youth also have an opportunity to assist in research on insect populations that is currently underway at the Boston Nature Center. With the exception of some of the gardening classes (the Center has partnered with the Boston Natural Areas Network for gardening programs including composting, soil preparation, water conservation, and pest-identification), each program involves a $4 to $5 fee.

During the 2004 Democratic National Convention held in Boston, the Nature Center played host to the Wisconsin delegation's welcoming party.

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CONTEXT:
The rest of the Boston State Hospital Site:
Most of the rest of the western campus of the former hospital is overgrown and unused. There is at least one unsafe vacant building that continues to stand. It has fences around it. The physical structure of the former Department of Corrections Boston Pre-Release Center is still standing at this location.

Under the 1995 Master Plan for the Boston Nature Center, Mass Audubon agreed to serve as a steward for the 3.6 acres of wetland on the East Campus of the Boston State Hospital site.

Local schools:
Within two miles of the Boston Nature Center there are an estimated 48 schools serving more than 23,000 children, or about 40% of the total number of children in schools in Boston. This puts the Boston Nature Center in an ideal position to reach out to the children of Boston and bring them to the Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. The educational philosophy of the Boston Nature Center, and the Mass Audubon Society generally, is to encourage people to observe, learn about, and value wildlife in their own environments.

Compost operations:
Because of the proximity of the Nature Center to three composing operations, Mass Audubon has expressed interest in a demonstration compost site developed for educational purposes, as well as for providing compost material to the Boston State Hospital community gardeners (Massachusetts Audubon Society Master Plan for an Environmental Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary at the Boston State Hospital Site, 1995). Julie Brandlen, director of the Boston Nature Center, commented that the compost attracts birds and even in the wintertime the warm compost piles are alive with birds.

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HISTORY:
In 1996, with the unanimous approval of the Community Advisory Committee, the Massachusetts Audubon Society bought the Boston State Hospital land from the City at a price of $10 per acre. Mass Audubon then established a community adversary board of 30 people, more than half of whom came from surrounding communities (The Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, 1996).

Mass Audubon held a brainstorming session with local groups on May 29, 1997. People created a "wish list" for the Boston Nature Center. Many of these ideas were being implemented in 2002, as the construction of the George Robert White Environmental Conservation Center moved toward completion (see below).

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
The Canterbury Brook:
This brook, which is sometimes incorrectly called the Stony Brook, runs through the Boston Nature Center property along American Legion Highway. The Brook is contaminated and filled with trash. One-time clean-ups of the brook are unproductive, because with every flooding episode the banks of the brook are again strewn with trash.

Contamination of property:
It is unclear where the contamination of the Canterbury Brook originated. Some residents and some of those who work in this area suspect that some of the pollutants came from dumping on the compost site, but this suspicion has been neither confirmed or denied.

Illegal dumping:
Illegal dumping occurs not only along the edges of the Boston Nature Center, but also within it. In May 2002, a refrigerator, stove, chair, and third large appliance lay in a field within the Boston Nature Center next to two birdhouses and a sign for the sanctuary.

Wetlands:
There is a marshy area within the Boston Nature Center that has not been altered or filled over the years. This wetland is protected by the federal Wetland Protection Act. It attracts a wide array of birds to the area and provides important ecosystem services by processing rainwater.

Hemlock wooly adelgid:
Some of the hemlock trees in the Boston Nature Center are being attacked by the hemlock wooly adelgid, an insect that feeds on young hemlock twigs and eventually kills the entire tree.

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DESIGN ISSUES:
Access is an issue at the Boston Nature Center. The nearest bus access to the site is at the intersection between Morton Street and Harvard Street (Bus #31) and at the intersection between Walk Hill Street and American Legion Highway (Bus #14). Neither of these provides direct access to the Center, and the Bus #31 access requires visitors to walk through the large wasteland area of the Boston State Hospital site before accessing the core of the wildlife sanctuary.

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PLANNING PROCESSES:
In 1995, Mass Audubon completed a Master Plan for the Boston Nature Center, which included rough plans for a "Park Drive" that would cut through the property and connect Walk Hill Street with Morton Street.

Mass Audubon will also hopes to complete an ecological management plan for the property in 2003.

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TESTIMONIES: 
"There was a lot of mistrust at the beginning. The property was undeveloped for 20 years. We'd heard rumors of this and that, but because we waited for so long, we wanted something that would benefit the community. We knew the Mass. Audubon was out in Lincoln...Lincoln? This is Mattapan!" (Charlotte Thompson, member of the Boston Nature Center's board and a Mattapan resident of 34 years, from an article by Ron Fletcher, "Multiple reconnections for Audubon and visitors; a return to their roots," The Boston Globe,  March 2, 2003).

"They were thrilled. They were free. At first they were reluctant to touch anything. Then they got into their surroundings: the sound of dry leaves, the feel of them. The sight - I wanted to make sure they turned those leaves over and saw every little detail" (Celina Quirindongo, teacher at Haley Elementary School who walked her class across the street to the Boston Nature Center, from an article by Ron Fletcher, "Multiple reconnections for Audubon and visitors; a return to their roots," The Boston Globe,  March 2, 2003).

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