Capital Development

Green Facilities: Spectacle and Georges Island

Spectacle Island – the first green facility

Spectacle Island has a swimming beach, five miles of walking trails dotted with gazebos, and a panoramic vista from the highest point in Boston Harbor. A five-year, $180 million project buried a former landfill under 6 million tons of dirt and gravel from Boston's Big Dig highway project to create this 105-acre oasis. Easily accessible via a 10-minute ferry ride from the city, it's now advertised as the harbor's jewel and touted as a "green" park for its solar-powered facilities and compost toilet system. Solar panels lay on top of the visitor center supplying power for the island. Inside, the toilets use a recycling system with no water or chemicals. The facility serves as a living classroom teaching about green technology and is open year round.

Georges Island Visitor Center – the next green facility

Seven miles from downtown Boston, Georges Island serves as one of the two hub islands for the park. It contains a large dock, picnic grounds, open fields, paved walk ways, a parade ground and a gravel beach. Guided tours of historic Fort Warren are offered. Georges also has a snack bar.

Working in close collaboration with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), BHIA contracted in 2008 for design work to create a new sustainable, "green" visitor center on Georges Island. The work will consist of rehabilitating the historic Administration Building at the foot of the Georges Pier. Construction will commence in 2009 with a completion target of 2010.