The Visitor and Volunteer Center

The Visitor and Volunteer Center is cared for by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Opening this Fall!

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy is adapting the H.H. Richardson-designed Stony Brook Gatehouse, located in the incomparable landscape of the Back Bay Fens to become the Emerald Necklace Visitor and Volunteer Center.

Under the direction of project architect, Ann Beha Architects, the new Visitor and Volunteer Center is designed to be a gateway to the Emerald Necklace. As a destination it will offer walking and biking tours, maps, exhibits and information on activities throughout the parks. For Volunteers, it will be a gathering place before they begin their project work to maintain this jewel of a park system.

Thanks to many generous donors, The Emerald Necklace Conservancy has raised over $1,232,450 toward the project goal of $1.25 million. The Justine Mee Liff Fund, with proceeds from the annual Party in the Park, made a $200,000 challenge grant which has been successfully matched. The Conservancy Board of Directors has also successfully matched a $100,000 challenge from the Plimpton-Shattuck Fund. Other major donors include The Yawkey Foundation, Jane’s Trust, The Carolyn and Peter Lynch Foundation, The 1772 Foundation, The Edwin S. Webster Foundation, The Mabel Louise Riley Foundation, and three anonymous foundations.

As the Conservancy works to meet our fund-raising goal, there are opportunities of others to become involved. To make a donation, learn more about the Visitor and Volunteer Center, or to arrange a tour, please contact Susan Knight, Director of Development at (617) 522-2700 or sknight@emeraldnecklace.org.

We wish to acknowledge the contributions that each of the firms consulting on the Gatehouse has made to this project. We are grateful for their tremendous expertise and generosity.

-Development Consultant: GLC Development Resources, LLC
-Architect: Ann Beha Architects
-MEP Engineer: Architectural Engineers, Inc.
-Cost Estimating: Daedalus Projects
-Permitting Counsel: Goulston & Storrs
-Telecommunications and Data: CCR Pyramid
-Surveyor: Harry R. Feldman
-Landscape Architect: Halvorson Design Partnership, Inc.
-Civil Engineer: Nitsch Engineering
-Sustainability: The Green Roundtable
-Acquisition Counsel: Krokidas & Blustein, LLP
-Construction Management: Shawmut Design and Construction

The adaptive reuse of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission’s decommissioned Gatehouse is a priority for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Conservancy. The new Visitor and Volunteer Center will offer both a destination and a jumping off point for people wishing to learn about and explore the parks, enjoy activities throughout the Necklace, or join volunteer groups working to maintain this jewel of a park system.

Conservancy sponsored parks tours, programs and interactive exhibits will address the history of the Emerald Necklace and Olmsted’s achievements in the parks, the work of H. H. Richardson, and the relationship among democratic ideals, civil engineering and design that is the essence of the Necklace landscape. Programming and exhibitions will also explore the contemporary restoration of the Necklace, including the Muddy River, and provide information for volunteer opportunities and current park programs.