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To our Courageous community:
I am writing to share some exciting news. As you probably know, in February, Courageous Sailing turned in a proposal to the City to transform our neighboring Pier 5 into a vibrant waterfront community center with facilities for Courageous programs, public open space. and so much more. I’m thrilled to announce that as of yesterday, the Boston Planning and Development Agency has chosen our proposal to move forward! Courageous has been awarded what’s called the “Tentative Designation” – a major milestone, and exactly the outcome we’ve been hoping for.
So, what does a tentative designation mean? In short, it allows us to move ahead with planning, collaborating with the City and community to finalize our building designs, putting together permitting, formalizing partnerships, and fundraising.
This proposal has been years in the making; when the City decided to end the previous RFP process in 2021 and shift their focus to projects prioritizing public waterfront access, we knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and that Courageous should play a central role. Discussions with neighbors, community groups, fellow non-profits, foundations, schools, marine science institutions, and other stakeholders inspired our vision of a climate resilient pier and dynamic waterfront community center – a world class destination the whole city can enjoy, with facilities to meet Courageous’s needs. If you haven’t had a chance to see our proposal, I urge you to take a look. It is the product of of a truly incredible working group of people, companies, and organizations, listed below. I hope that you’ll join me in thanking Bill Jacobson, the Courageous Board Member who has led this project, Board President Dave Alexander, our elected officials, and the rest of our phenomenal team – they have put immense time and effort into bringing us to this point, much as a pro-bono labor of love. We also deeply appreciate the BPDA’s effort and thoughtfulness throughout this process, and we are looking forward to continuing our work with them.
In the words of Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” We recognize that there is a lot of work ahead and we know that our plan will evolve as our dialogue with community stakeholders and the BPDA continues. Thank you, so much, to all of you who have encouraged us along the way, asked questions, attended community meetings, and helped us get to this point. If you'd like to discuss the project or get more involved, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Your continued support and engagement mean the world to us as we get to work on the next phase of this transformative project.
All the best,
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