Hyde Park Neponset River Access Committee Hard at Work!

The Hyde Park Neponset River Access Committee has worked with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to create a new design for Doyle Park, which sits on the Neponset along River Street. The design includes adding chess and picnic tables, a small performance stage, more trees and native plants, and a trail with a river overlook. Construction is scheduled to start late 2023/early 2024. The committee is also discussing the possibility of extending the trail along the river from Doyle Park to the West Street Urban Wild.

Melanie Daye, who leads the Hyde Park Central River Neighborhood Association, encourages neighbors to join the committee: "Hyde Park's riverfront will be a space to enjoy the environment as a community. I hope people will come out and be part of this journey.”

Corey Rivas and Antoinette Piña consider the riverbank their backyard, where they sit daily with their dog, Diamond. The family lives at Riverside Terrace Apartments, abutting the river. They have been pulling trash from the river, including bottles, bags, and even a large metal shopping cart. Rivas fishes the Neponset for fun and calls a friendly local turtle “Spike.” He said he wants neighbors to “work together to help protect the wildlife in our river.”

The Hyde Park Neponset River Access Committee is a local coalition working to make the Neponset River and surrounding greenspace safer and more accessible to Hyde Park residents. Members include the East River Neighborhood Association, the Hyde Park Central River Neighborhood Association, the Neponset River Watershed Association (NepRWA), and the Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation, with support from the Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation.

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated a 3.7-mile stretch of the river as a Superfund site. The site starts where Mother Brook enters the Neponset in Hyde Park, passes the Lewis Chemical site, Riverside Square, Doyle Park, and the Tileston and Hollingsworth dam, then continues through Mattapan to the Baker Dam in Dorchester. The EPA continues to collect samples, create clean-up plans, share updates, and collect input at community meetings. The Hyde Park Neponset River Access Committee will inform neighbors of upcoming community meetings.

The committee recently hired Suzanne Hinton as a part-time community organizer to reach out to residents living along the river and invite them to join its work. Suzanne has called Boston home for nearly 30 years and is honored to support Hyde Park neighborhoods. “This work taps my passion for working in community for justice and my love of nature,” she said.

If you want to help make the Neponset safe and accessible in Hyde Park, reach out to Hinton to learn more: shinton@swbcdc.org, (617) 364-7300.

Check out their new Facebook page here!