Head of the Charles Regatta Strategic Plan
GalleryThe Head of the Charles Regatta Strategic Plan (HOCR) builds on previous studies, including the Charles River Vegetation Management Plan (2020) and the Herter Park Master Plan (2022), to provide comprehensive vegetation maintenance recommendations along the shoreline and parklands adjacent to the Charles River. The project area spans the approximately 3-mile stretch of the Charles that encompasses the Head of the Charles Regatta and its associated event spaces.
As a subconsultant to AECOM, Offshoots supported DCR and AECOM on delineating landscape types for long term maintenance strategies that would find the balance between reducing maintenance, increasing ecological value, while maintaining public open space amenities and meeting the HOCR program needs/goals. Offshoots then developed an outline of each landscape typology, and a matrix of maintenance practices for each one. Currently, Offshoots is working with AECOM and DCR to develop pilot projects to test out the shoreline maintenance strategies.
CATEGORY
Climate Resiliency, Green Infrastructure, Native Plants, Planning, Pollinator Habitat, Public, Stormwater
LOCATION
Boston and Cambridge, MA
DATE
Ongoing
CREDITS
Client: Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Primary: AECOM
Through comprehensive surveys, site visits, and engagement with the community, Offshoots and the larger project team developed twenty landscape typologies for The Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) Strategic Plan. Each type is based on existing or proposed site conditions, current and future site programming, user experience, and the goals outlined in the Herter Park Master Plan.
Sample plant lists for each type have been provided as a starting point for new plantings. Each list represents plants that are suitable for the plant type height, and wetland status. The strategic plan recommends selecting native species plants when possible. This will ensure the use of plants most-reliably beneficial to pollinators, insects, and other wildlife that co-evolved with these species. However, site specific plant selections will require site designers to filter the list through project-specific lenses to ensure the right plants are selected for the right locations.
For each landscape typology, Offshoots crafted a Vegetation Maintenance Matrix detailing maintenance practices for every type as well as a condensed Vegetation Type & Maintenance “Cheat Sheet” that summarizes key maintenance considerations. Together the Plant Species Lists, Vegetation Maintenance Matrices, and Cheat Sheets offer a framework for understanding, implementing, and caring for diverse plant communities across the Charles River landscape.
Working together, AECOM and Offshoots identified zones across the project area where each vegetation typology could be implemented and maintained to support the overall goals of the strategic masterplan.
Across the Charles River landscape the vegetation typologies will help mitigate the impacts of the event to the riverbanks and parkland as well as improve stormwater management within the Charles River watershed.
As an overall strategy of supporting sensitive plant community selection and care, the Head of the Charles River Regatta Strategic Masterplan is the first step in fostering a sustainable and ecologically resilient future for the Charles River.