By Charlie McCabe
Since 1980, when the first American park conservancy was formed to help maintain Central Park, the term “park conservancy” has typically implied an organization focused on a single, large park or an integrated system of parks, in partnership with public park agencies, and with responsibilities including fundraising, capital improvements, programming, and ongoing operations and maintenance. But in my work over the past few decades, I’ve been amazed to see how park conservancies have evolved. So for today’s post, I want to highlight some of the wide-ranging efforts that park conservancies are currently tackling in different U.S. cities.
Moncus Park Conservancy
In Lafayette, Louisianna, the 100-acre Moncus Park has a number of unique features that the Moncus Park Conservancy built into the first phase of improvements, including a one-of-a-kind accessible tree house, two dog parks, and a playground with an interactive fountain, as well as half of the park left in a natural state with walking trails. But it’s the park’s partnership with the weekly Saturday morning Lafayette farmers and artisans market that sets it apart. Although the first phase of the park opened in late 2022, the market had operated in a shaded area of the former university horse farm for eight years prior. With over 100 vendors on average and thousands of attendees, it is an anchor gathering.
The Conservancy, through a key donation, is completing a set of improvements to further bolster the market, with an open-air pavilion that provides restrooms and space for 30 vendors, plus additional parking and surrounding landscaping. The Pavilion will also be a key rental space for events and programming outside the market every Saturday. The conservancy is responsible for all operations and maintenance, as well as capital improvements of the park.
Charles River Conservancy
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Charles River Conservancy has worked since 2000 to improve the parks and trails along the north side of Boston’s famous Charles River. They operate in close collaboration with both the city and the State department of conservation and recreation, who maintain the parkway, trails, and park spaces. In addition to hosting numerous volunteer events each year, the Conservancy built a dedicated skate park in 2015 beneath towering highway overpasses and in 2020, they developed one of the first examples of a floating wetland, anchored in key locations of the Charles River Basin. Each of these improvements has unique programming. For the floating wetland, the Conservancy has replanted and expanded the wetland’s plant palette over the years as they continue to experiment with what works. They also offer kayak tours of the wetland in the warmer months, with staff interpreting the changes and the uses. At the skate park, the Conservancy recently unveiled an Artist-in-residence program to create site-specific artwork.
But, the most well-known event is focused around the conservancy’s efforts to ensure a regularly swimmable Charles River. The annual City Splash is a fundraiser that is a special permitted event allowing people to swim in the Charles River. The Charles River has been the focus on big efforts to improve water quality over the past few decades, resulting in this opportunity. The conservancy works with the state of Massachusetts, through the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
High Line Canal Conservancy
In Denver, the High Line Canal Conservancy is working with over a dozen governmental jurisdictions as they continue to develop a portion of the city’s historic irrigation system into a 79-mile linear park. The High Line Canal connects to many neighborhoods and related parks, stretching from the southwest foothills in a northeast direction and ending just short of the Denver airport. Now 10 years old, the Conservancy worked to create an overall plan, along with a canal collaborative of the 14 different governmental and nongovernmental partners to move the plan forward and saw the transfer of nearly half of the length of the linear park from the Denver Water Utility to Arapahoe County, with the Conservancy holding the conservation easement.
The work to convert the canal continues with bridge and tunnel projects, allowing access over roads and highways, as well as stormwater projects, invasive species removal, and tree planting efforts, coupled with community programming and events.
I’ll be talking with more park conservancies in the coming months as I begin work on revisions to my Partners for Parks reports. If you know of a park conservancy I should speak with, please contact me. I welcome your input and assistance.
My thanks to the Moncus Park Conservancy, the Highline Canal Conservancy, and the Charles River Conservancy for their help and for the photos and illustrations on this post.