Secret sanctuary in BU backyard

Hall's Pond restoration scheduled for this summer

By Brian Fitzgerald

How does one get lost in a three-and-a-half-acre patch of woods two blocks from SFA? Barbara Mackey (GRS'75) did in 1971, when she was a BU graduate student. Hiking through a maze of meandering pathways, Mackey ran into several dead ends.

Momentarily losing one's bearings in the thick underbrush of Hall's Pond Sanctuary in Brookline isn't out of the question. "I was surprised to find a wild area right next to BU, in the middle of a residential neighborhood," she recalls. Indeed, it is the closest nature conservation area to the Charles River Campus. The sanctuary abuts Amory Park on Amory Street, which is on the south side of Commonwealth Avenue, across from SFA.

"I had been in the Peace Corps in Tanzania, and that's what it reminded me of," she says. "It was like a jungle."

Mackey obviously found her way out of the woods, but, drawn to their natural beauty, returned to them often. Serving on the Brookline Conservation Commission for six years -- and eventually becoming president of the Friends of Hall's Pond -- she has worked diligently to protect and improve the area. This summer the sanctuary will undergo a major restoration and expansion project that will enhance the pond's water quality and increase the amount of wetlands. It is an effort that has been years in the making.

For Mackey, the project will begin to realize one of her dreams: a cleaner Hall's Pond, which has been gradually filling with sediment and debris. At present, the only fish hearty enough to brave its murky water are carp. "It's a wonderful place," says Mackey on a recent visit with Brookline Conservation Administrator Erin Chute. "We've done all we can to keep it clean, but it's been deteriorating."

Mackey points to old willow and silver maple trees that create a canopy over the water, but are clearly in decline. A recent storm has blown several large branches down, and there are few seedlings to take the trees' place once they die. "There is a surprising amount of migrating birds here," she says as a lone mallard leisurely paddles near the shore. "I've even seen a great blue heron here. Still, the vegetation is overgrown and invasive nonnative plants have crowded out the original plants. We are going to reintroduce some original species through a vegetation-management program." Chute says that plantings will include wood reed, cinnamon, and high-bush blueberries.

Funded by a $68,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection's Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Program, the improvements will include the re-creation of a wetland between Hall's Pond and Amory Woods, a 1.6-acre wild area northwest of the pond. "Rain water runoff will be diverted to go through the wetland, improving the water quality of the pond, which drains into the Charles River," says Chute. "Contaminants from the storm drain system will also be intercepted by oil and sediment traps. There will also be new entrances, fences, and a boardwalk and path system."

Friends of Hall's Pond President Barbara Mackey (GRS'75) (right) and Brookline Conservation Administrator Erin Chute look for bird life in the small nature sanctuary on Amory Street. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

Some neighbors have been criticizing the project, saying that it's ludicrous to create wetlands in an area where people walk their dogs, but the triangular area is often soggy and unused, according to Mackey. Deep puddles were seen on a recent visit after a rain storm. "It's an area that wants to be wet most of the time," says Mackey. She points out that the area was once part of the large Cedar Swamp, and Chute notes that this claim is confirmed by old town maps. "We're restoring it to its more natural state," she says.

In the 1800s the swamp was gradually reduced by subdivision development. Minna Hall, after whom the pond is named, used to explore these woods behind her Ivy Street home. After founding the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1896, she attempted to deed the pond to the town, but was refused. Brookline once proposed a street through the pond, but attempts to fill it failed when the ground sank. In the 1970s, the pond was threatened by develo