Magazine Beach–A Place Apart, Opens Monday at Cambridge Arts

The 1818 powder magazine with its new roof commanding attention at Magazine Beach, 2014. Photograph by and courtesy of Richard Hackel.

Exhibition Dates: November 3, 2014 – February 27, 2015

Opening Reception: Monday, November 17, 2014, from 6-8pm

In 2015, landscape designs for Magazine Beach – Cambridge’s 2nd largest park – will be updated and its future cast. Magazine Beach – A Place Apart looks closely at the history of these 15 acres along the Charles River from a wooded island on a tidal estuary to its current form. It examines the forces that have defined it uses – for gunpowder storage, a river bathing beach, a boathouse for rowers, a storm water sewage treatment plant, and as a favorite swimming, picnicking and recreation destination.

Magazine Beach–A Place Apart was developed by the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association (CNA) in collaboration with the Cambridge Arts Council, drawing on the resources of the Cambridge Historical Commission.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) owns and manages the Magazine Beach Park for the public.   In 2015, DCR will reopen the public process to update existing landscape plans for the park’s western portion—from the old powder magazine to the Riverside Boat Club. This follows renovation of the eastern portion in 2009. Since 2010, the CNA has worked with Cambridge and the DCR to improve the park—and at last, it’s happening. This past summer, DCR rebuilt the slate roof of the 1818 powder magazine, the park’s focal point. In September DCR committed funds, with a Cambridge match, to complete park plans.

Magazine Beach – A Place Apart offers a meditation on the past, present, and future of this dynamically changing place. We invite you to contribute to the conversation. What does Magazine Beach mean to you and what do you hope for its future?

Gallery 344 is located at the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Cambridge, MA. It is free and open to the public on Monday, 8:30am-8pm; Tuesday-Thursday, 8:30am-5pm; Friday, 8:30-12noon. Questions? Contact Cathie Zusy, Chair, Magazine Beach Committee, Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association, Inc. at 617-868-0489 or cathzusy@gmail.com.