East Boston Harborwalk

In 2018-19, we worked with Trinity Financial on Boston East, a new multi-family residential development on the East Boston waterfront. Whitney Veigas designed, supplied, and installed interior, exterior and garage signage for Boston East. At the end of this project, Trinity Financial approached us to implement four signs for the East Boston Harborwalk, which would make up a portion of the Interpretative Sign Program for Boston’s expansive 43-mile Harborwalk.

Background
The Harborwalk interpretative sign program was spearheaded by Friends of the Boston Harborwalk (FBHW), a volunteer group with the mission to create awareness, promote public enjoyment, and foster local stewardship of Boston’s 43-mile Harborwalk. FBHW works closely with property owners and stakeholders to develop content for engaging and inclusive interpretive signs along the Harborwalk, celebrating Boston’s rich waterfront history by focusing on local points of interest.

The Boston Harborwalk was originally envisioned by Mayor Raymond Flynn in 1984, and arose as a commitment to protecting public access to the waterfront as the city redeveloped former industrial wharves following the Boston Harbor cleanup. This commitment, in conjunction with Chapter 91, requires that property owners along the waterfront gain approval for building near the harbor, and as part of the permitting process, owners are required to promote public use of the waterfront.

To help Trinity Financial with this effort, Whitney Veigas fabricated and installed three new interpretative panels and one map kiosk on the Boston Harborwalk at Boston East. They are the first of dozens that will be added along Boston’s 43-mile Harborwalk.

Design
A team that included landscape architects, graphic designers, property owners, and staff at Boston Harbor Now, along with members of FBHW, created a template for the Harborwalk signs. With approval of the template and format from the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), the interpretive signs program will be expanded across more neighborhoods to include Charlestown, the North End, and the Wharf District. Earlier this month, Whitney Veigas completed the implementation of several interpretative panels for the Clippership Wharf portion of the Boston Harborwalk.

The designs for the signage required the fabrication of aluminum structures and modular graphic panels. Each panel contains either interpretative graphic content describing the harbor, or general wayfinding maps that allow/intend for people to gain access to the harbor. The panels were placed in different locations throughout East Boston, and welcome walkers to the Harborwalk, give a brief history of East Boston, and give walking distances to the different destinations along the walk.

Fabrication
Our primary challenge was to find a solution that would be extremely durable in a high traffic environment with the added provision that the graphic elements had to stand up to salt air. For that reason, we selected and utilized a unique process that embeds graphics in a layer of clear powder coat finish.