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Malden River Greenway Plan

The Solomon Foundation with support from the Barr Foundation championed the need for a Malden River Greenway Plan and assembled the coalition to finance it. The plan was completed with the help of Utile Design under the direction of the Mystic River Watershed Association. After gathering input from a series of public meetings in three cities, Utile produced an aspirational greenway plan that will inform private efforts to build out a continuous river path along both sides of the river. The plan has already leveraged a commitment to design and build a half-mile river walk along the National Grid yard and will influence the development of the future of the Everett riverfront.

Background: The Malden River, once a meandering tidal stream, was channelized in the late 19th century to accommodate industry including companies such as GE. The three cities of Malden, Medford, and Everett turned their backs on the once beautiful river and many residents forgot about it. By the 1920s, most of those companies had left and it was not until the turn of this century that redevelopment began with the efforts of Preotle,  Lane, and Associates at Rivers Edge. Preotle set the standard for fabulous public access and environmental mitigation for shoreline development. The Greenway Plan that Preotle helped fund is helping to change people’s minds about the Malden River and bring people to the waterfront. What was once a fragmented and inaccessible edge is gradually becoming a central open space shared by three cities. Less than a fourth of the 4½ miles was accessible to the public when planning began.  An additional half mile of access path has been added since then with another half mile in design.

Timeline
DateMilestone
2016Initial planning and conversations
2017Utile leads community planning process
2018Encore completes Rivergreen Riverwalk
2018National Grid required to extend a half mile of Riverwalk

Project Details

Initiated
  • 2017
Solomon and Barr Investments
  • $30,000
Partner Investments
  • $30,000
 Key Partners
Consultants
Status
  • The plan is providing a framework for redevelopment
Press
Documents

Plans and Presentation

Master map page

Photo Gallery

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