Support The Sailing Pavilion Relocation

I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Aaron Michel’s continued campaign against the proposed sailing pavilion. I leave Boston University in a few months with a B.A. in environmental policy and an M.A. in environmental analysis. I consider myself very sympathetic to and concerned with environmental issues. Mr. Michel seems to have a predilection for attention, particularly to be perceived as an environmental warrior. In his zeal, Mr. Michel is speaking outside of his experience. I have been an employee of BU Sailing for three years and an instructor for the past two. Having spent nine hours a day on the Charles River and the Esplanade for the past two summers and countless hours each semester, I am intimately connected to it. I grew up here. It is my home, and I know it like the back of my hand. I plan on calling Boston my home for years to come and enjoying BU sailing as a resident.

The full scope of issues involved is not being discussed. Instead, the focus is merely the claim that BU is stealing “prime real estate.” Last I heard, the Esplanade is a public park, and an improved public (yes, BU sailing is open to all) facility for the community on this park would be a positive thing. BU is not building a waste treatment plant but a SAILING pavilion by relocating and improving an existing facility. No one debates the need for a new facility; the old one is unsafe, inadequate and a navigation hazard. It will be demolished when a new facility is built. The proposed facility will use almost exactly the same space as the old one, simply in another location. We must have a new location because the old one inhibits Esplanade and water traffic, among other reasons. Several new boating facilities have been constructed recently, but none have had the scrutiny that BU’s has. I would be personally upset if I felt there was going to be a serious alteration of the park. The sites suggested in the environmental impact report are the best choices in terms of impact on the park, safety and the needs of the community, University and students. The alternative sites are either totally unsuitable or would disturb the park.

BU is the largest private landowner in Boston and has stepped on a lot of people’s toes. I believe that several NGOs are using this as an opportunity for fundraising, feeding off of this sentiment. Mr. Michel, in his earnest desire to be an environmental advocate, has fallen for the propaganda of these organizations.

BU sailing is open to the public at a very fair price; therefore, the new facility will be an asset to the community. Local high schools practice here and more could with a better facility, as well as many local residents (The Kenmore Residents Association supports the facility as proposed.). However, Mr. Michel also insists that most BU students do not want a new facility. As sailing, kayaking and canoeing are some of the most popular classes at the University, I have reason to doubt Mr. Michel’s skills as a psychic.

The Charles River and the Esplanade are in need of serious attention by environmentalists and the community. It is polluted and covered with litter; I have seen more than one syringe on its banks. Assaulting a very clean, low-impact use of the park is a waste of time and is isolating many self-proclaimed environmentalists from a population of typically environmentally conscious people. Of course we must study and question plans that would modify public lands, but the onslaught BU is facing is absurd for the relocation of a very small, one-story, glorified storage shed a couple hundred yards — unless, of course, an organization’s goal is to use the issue as a call to obtain donations. At the proposed sites, the facility will blend into the trees around it — none of which will be cut down for its construction — and will be easily accessible to the University and the community, particularly the handicapped who would not otherwise have access.

Handicapped access is a large reason for the proposed sites. Handicapped sailing is a growing sport, and BU sailing wants to make itself accessible to ALL people. Perhaps money-grubbing by certain groups and cravings for attention by others is causing people to forget such issues. I invite all to go to http://people.bu.edu/sailing/newpavillion.htm and read the report to make your own minds up, not simply trust the hype. This is one environmentalist supporting the proposed locations for the good of the community and the University and questioning the motivation of the critics.