Bathhouse
editCarson Beach bathhouse was built in 1925 to serve local residents as a changing room and field house.[1] The bathhouse served the local community through the 1950's and 60's. As the 70's came, an increasing amount of beach goers were using their newly purchased cars to explore beaches as far as Maine and Cape Cod. The bathhouse that served that local community became increasingly run down and unkept.
On July 26, 1994 Massachusetts governor Bill Weld and Boston mayor Thomas Menino along with representatives from the Massachusetts held a joint press conference announcing the plan to renovate a large number of the Boston Harbor beaches and called it "Back to the Beaches." The group announced plans for $6,823,500 to be spent renovating the bathhouse and cleaning up the beach area. [2] The new bathhouse had to be moved back from the sand dunes closer to Day boulevard. It was completed in 1998 and named after Edward J. McCormack Jr. who is a native of South Boston and served as the Massachusetts Attorney General from 1959-1963.[3] The new bathhouse includes three pavilion, food and recreation stands and men's and women's bathrooms.
Notable events
editRacially Motivated Clash
editAug 3, 1977 was the last day of a two week racially motivated clash over access to who can use the Carson Beach and its bathhouses. Local white citizens were upset that blacks and hispanics from the neighboring Columbia point projects were using the beach. On this day four more white youths were arrested bringing the total of arrests to forty-eight. Richard Bates, the head of the FBI in Boston sent his agents in to observe the conflict. The arrests began at 2:30 pm when a white youth verbally abused a black youth and the two entered into a physical confrontation. [4]
Turmoil at the Currach Races
editOn May 25, 1987, the beach hosted currach races with rowing clubs from Dorchester, Boston, New York City and Annapolis, Maryland competing in five separate races. The club from Dorchester won all of the races. However, the races were in question to even happen after the head of the currach club in Dorchester, which was made up of 40 Irish immigrants, made a racially charged comments about the club from New York. He said that due to the fact that they had three members of color their safety could not be guaranteed and it would also hurt the fundraising efforts of his own club. [5]
The permit was temporarily revoked by mayor Raymond Flynn, but the two sides met for four days of meetings prior to the races and the permit was reinstalled. The meetings were attended by state and city officials, local black community leaders and Alex Rodriguez, who was the commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination. Rodriguez and John Joyce, president of the Dorchester club agreed on a six point plan, which allowed the races to go on. On the day of the race, mayor Flynn spoke to a gathered crowd of around 400 spectators and marked the agreement as a symbol racial progress in the city before the races ended up going on with no issue. [6]
Memorial Day Skirmish
editOn May 31, 2011, a fight broke out between rival gangs of kids aged 14-19 with around a thousand individuals in attendance. The gathering was planned using Facebook. Over one hundred officers from the State Police, the State Police Special Tactical Operations team, the Boston Police and Boston SWAT teams, Umass Boston Police, Transit Police and the Boston Housing Police responded. The combination of officers was able to disperse the crowd to nearby JFK station. Only a few arrests were made, but State Police spokesman Dave Procopio remarked, “Veteran troopers assigned to the State Police barracks for a couple of decades have never seen as large a volume of kids that were there tonight.” [7]
Kyzr Willis Death
editOn July 26, 2016, a seven-year-old boy from Boston named Kyzr Willis drowned while attending a city sanctioned summer camp at the Curley Community Center. Even though he could not swim, he went into the ocean without any floating devices; he also strayed away from the watch of the counselors and lifeguards. Rescuers found his body in ten feet deep water hours later.
His family filed a lawsuit against the state claiming that they failed to enforce “Christians Law”. This law was passed in 2012 after a four year old boy from Sturbridge drown. This law requires that day care programs provide Coast Guard approved floatation devices to all participants who can not swim. Campers are required to take a swim test prior to entering the water to assess their level of ability. Neither of these measures were taken before Willis entered the water. The family settled with the city of Boston on April 6, 2018, for $5 million dollars. Mellissa Willis, Kyzr’s mother, said she plans to use this money to set up a scholarship foundation in honor of Kyzr. [8]
References
edit- ^ Mitchell, Anthony (2006). South Boston: Then & Now.
- ^ Glowac, Marissa (21Sept, 02). "The Tide is High for the Boston Beaches". Scholar Works Umass Boston.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Massachusetts Former Attorneys General". National Association of Attorney Generals.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Dwyer, Timothy (Aug 3, 1977). "FBI at Carson Beach; 4 more arrests".
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Kaufman, Jonathan (May 25, 1987). "In Wake of Turmoil, Rowers Find Serenity at Sea".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Missing or empty|url=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Alters, Diane (May 31, 1987). "Receptive Crowd at Boat Race Dispels Memories of Slur". Boston Globe.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Guilfoil, John (May 31, 2011). "Fights break out at Carson Beach". Boston Globe.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Reports, Staff (April 10, 2018). "Boston reaches $5 Million Settlement With Family of Boy Who Drowned at Carson Beach".
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