Three Navy Yard Activation Proposals Before BPDA Board

Three of the four finalist proposals to activate the Navy Yard have gained a spot on the meeting agenda for a licensing agreement with the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) today, March 14.

Two of the items making the agenda for a licensing agreement were somewhat controversial within several community meetings, though they also had support as well.

Those were Balance Architects for the floating Tall Ship restaurant in Dry Dock 2 (partnership with Navy Yard Hospitality); Anthem Group for the use of Dry Dock 2, Shipyard Park and other open spaces in the Yard for community oriented arts and health/wellness programming – as well as food trucks and beer and wine offerings.

Both of these licensing agreements were to operate only from May 1 to Oct. 31.

The final licensing agreement before the Board is for the USS Constitution Museum to use Dry Dock 2 for outdoor activation and to enter into a grant agreement not to exceed $10,000.

Noticeably absent was a long-anticipated proposal for a kayak rental station in Dry Dock 2 or Pier 3. That was one of the least controversial proposals and came from a Charlestown resident. It wasn’t certain immediately why it did not make the agenda yet.

It was expected that the BPDA would approve all three of the licensing agreements.

•Also on the BPDA agenda for March 14 was the long-awaited movement on the demolition of Building 108 in the Navy Yard. Building 108 is also known as the Navy Yard Power Plant and is highly contaminated.

The BPDA Board is being requested to authorize an engineering contract with Weston & Sampson for Phase 2 of the Environmental and Demolition services for the building. The cost of that contract is estimated at $390,800.

•A major meeting with the BPDA will come on Thursday, March 21, when they meet with the community about what to do with Little Mystic Channel parcels. The BPDA owns several of the parcels on the Channel, and had leased them to MassPort for the last 40 years at rock-bottom prices. That lease runs out in July, and since last year the community and Councilor Lydia Edwards has called for discussions about the future of those parcels before any renewal of the MassPort lease.

“One of the key topics will be the use of the site,” said Devin Quirk of the BPDA. “We’re still open to continuing the lease with MassPort and the AutoPort. It is in the Designated Port Area and creates jobs and supports the Marine Industrial economy. There are some mitigation that community members would like to see. Now is the time to evaluate if we want to renew and see what mitigation might look like.”

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