Location: Boston Harbor, MA
Client: MassDOT
Owner: City of Boston, Department of Conservation and Recreation
Team: Weston & Sampson
Awards: 2000 Honor Award, Boston Society of Landscape Architects
Photography: Christopher Barnes and Alex MacLean

Spectacle Island was once a contaminated dump in the middle of Boston Harbor. As part of the Big Dig project, this island was reclaimed and transformed into a public park, using landfill from tunnel excavations. Brown, Richardson + Rowe designed the park, providing the grading and planting drawings necessary to stabilize millions of cubic yards of fill, and working with a soil scientist, Dr. Phillip Craul, to develop site-specific manufactured topsoil. Today, Spectacle Island is a popular harbor destination, with trails, stunning views, and a swimming beach.