Prior to the establishment of the Charles River Conservancy (CRC), Renata von Tscharner and her students at the Radcliffe Seminars Landscape Program designed a skatepark under the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. In 2000, von Tscharner founded the CRC and immediately explored whether this idea could be realized. As advocates for the stewardship and renewal of the Charles River

Parklands, the CRC recognized that a skatepark along the river was a great way to bring athletes and spectators to these parklands.

In the mid 1990's, Nancy Schön, best known for her sculpture Make Way for Ducklings in the Public Garden inadvertently became acquainted with young skateboarders. Shortly after she sculpted the Tortoise and the Hare in Copley Square, she discovered local skateboarders doing tricks and practicing on her sculpture. Although she was initially enraged, after speaking with them she came to realize that they were great kids that simply had no legal place to skate. At that moment, Nancy Schön became a skatepark advocate. She approached the MDC (today called DCR) and asked them to assess suitable sites for a public skatepark. In 2003, when Nancy heard of the CRC’s effort to build a skatepark, she joined that effort in 2003 and has worked tirelessly ever since.

Master plan for New Basin and Site Selection

While the master plan for the 40 acres of new parklands between the Museum of Science and the New Dam was being refined, the CRC proposed the inclusion of a skatepark. Working both with the Mass Turnpike Authority -MTA (who owns the land) and the Department of Conservation and Recreation-DCR (who will manage the parks) to the Citizens Advisory committee the CRC selected two possible sites: one in Charles Town and one in Cambridge. As a result of a lengthy evaluation and consultation process with representatives of both communities as well as the New Basin Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) the Cambridge site was selected.