Echo Bridge on the Charles River in Upper Falls is without a doubt one of the most beloved locations in the city of Newton.
For the last eight years the footpath on the top of the bridge has been lined with a chain link fence for safety reasons. A local group of residents have put together a plan to restore the original railings and remove the “temporary” chain link – and they need all of our help.
As many of you know, the 140-year-old cast iron railings along the top Promenade are in disrepair and are obscured by a “temporary” chain link fence installed in 2008 for safety reasons. Last fall, Newton and Needham residents formed the Echo Bridge Railing Committee to focus public and private resources to work with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), owner of Echo Bridge, to seek Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and private donations for an in-kind reconstruction of the 140-year old cast iron railings.
Approval of these CPA requests will only happen with an outpouring of public support and pledges from local residents and companies to match Community Preservation and MWRA funds. A decade of delay can be turned around this spring if, by mid February, we receive 100s of individual and corporate pledges both large and small.
To learn more details, read our attached News Release and Railing Reconstruction Plan.
Will you consider joining us in supporting this project?
There are four ways you can help…
1) Find more information and pledging instructions at www.EchoBridgeRailings.com
2) Forward this email to family and friends whom you think share a fondness for Echo Bridge, and encourage them to join you in support.
3) Take a hike over the bridge this month and look more closely at the condition of the current railing system.
4) Email us at [email protected] if you want to join the Committee’s fundraising team.
Note: if you wish to help grow our # of supporters and funds without appearing on the donor list (e.g. if you serve on a public committee and shouldn’t associate your name with an advocacy group), please specify that your pledge is to be recorded as Anonymous.
Thank you for your consideration and support,
Echo Bridge Railing Committee
- Lee Fisher, Newton
- Brian Yates, Newton
- Andreae Downs, Newton
- Jeff Heller, Needham
- Karen Osborn, Newton
- Roger Feng, Needham
- Maxine Bridger, Newton
Echo Bridge was built more than 100 years ago in response to the failure of the regional water system to provide enough water to fight fires, including the great Boston Fire. Echo Bridge is part of the Sudbury Aqueduct which brought water from the Sudbury River to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir near Boston College, and is part of the Sudbury Aqueduct Linear Historic District on the National Historic Register. (It is also a contributing property to the Upper Falls Historic District on the National Register.)
The large stone arch of Echo Bridge is the second largest masonry arch in North America and a North American Water Landmark. It crosses the Charles River at Hemlock Gorge, linking extensive systems of hiking trails to the west in Needham, and Wellesley and beyond to the east in Newton and beyond. More details about the history of the site and its environs are available at the website of the Friends of Hemlock Gorge..
The Friends have already pledged $5,000 towards the repair of the Bridge . Representative Ruth Balser and her colleagues at the State House allocated $250,000 several years ago. Please make an individual or group pledge and inform the Community Preservation Act Committees of Newton and Needham that you feel the Historic Preservation of this symbol of the rich heritage of both communities would be an excellent use of CPA funds.
Newton City Councilor Brian Yates
President. Friends of Hemlock Gorge
Jerry & Brian-
I love Echo Bridge. I visited it many times when I was growing up and I
would hate to see it fall further into disrepair. I hate to be the bad guy here,
but is it appropriate to use CPA funds
for something that belongs to the MWRA? We already pay sky high water & sewer bills. Why is it unreasonable to expect
the MWRA to maintain their own
property?
Hi Paul,
You raise a reasonable point.
The MWRA’s view is that both Echo Bridge, and the Sudbury Aqueduct which is housed inside the Bridge, are structurally sound, and the water supply for metropolitan Boston is safe and secure. Therefore, with total project cost estimated at $1.44 million, MWRA cannot justify dedicating ratepayer dollars to fully fund a reconstruction of the historic railings. Put simply, for their mission they need a safe railing, not an historic railing. You’ve already said their rates are sky high, absent a historic preservation mission too.
The cost is proposed by the EB Railing Committee to be covered 1/3 by MWRA, 1/2 by both CPCs, and the remaining ~15% by private donations (or $200K, of which $117K is curreently pledged – we welcome yours!). Whether these percentages are appropriate is a fair debate, but I’m quite sure historic reconstruction won’t happen if it falls 100% on MWRA.
The two adjacent towns benefit the most from the beauty of this site, and let’s remember that State funds contributed ~30% of Newton’s CPC budget last year (projected in high teens this year). Historic Preservation is one of the triad of missions for CPC funds, so will you support the idea of the CPC contributing to the cause in some degree or another?
Lee Fisher, NUF, Chair of EB Railing Committee