Canoe/Kayak Launch & Outlook Officially Opens

(L to R) Rep. Jay Livingstone, DCR’s Comm. Leo Roy, Magazine Beach Partner’s Cathie Zusy, Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern and Budget Director Taha Jennings officially open the new boat launch and outlook.

On Sunday, the new boat launch and outlook officially opened with a ribbon cutting. This was the 4^th official DCR event at the park over the past 15 months. Roy will step down from his 3.5-year tenure as Commissioner this Friday. During his leadership, Magazine Beach Park has witnessed a renaissance. The Powder Magazine interior renovation was completed; the spray deck built and wading pool removed; boat launch and outlook built; and current shoreline and Powder Magazine patio and terrace improvements begun. (Thank you, Comm. Roy!)

Most of this work was seeded by Cambridge Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding. At 17 acres, Magazine Beach is Cambridge’s second largest park. Its free outdoor Olympic-sized pool, ball fields, and old shade trees draw thousands of bathers, soccer and baseball players, and picnickers each summer.

Thank you to launch and outlook funders: DCR, the City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, Kimco, BioMed Realty, the Judy Record Fund/Mass Audubon, the Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation and individuals. And many thanks to CRLS’s Charles River Cleanup Project for doing a park cleanup just before our ribbon cutting.

Photos by Bimal Nepal

Comm. Roy, who has done so much for Magazine Beach Park, retires Friday.