[Editor's note: The following is a press release by The Esplanade Association.]

The Esplanade Association (TEA) will hold a public meeting—“Esplanade 2020 Unveiled”—on Thursday, February 9, at 6:00 p.m. in the Rabb Auditorium of the Boston Public Library Central Branch to present a community vision for the Charles River Esplanade. An initiative of The Esplanade Association, Esplanade 2020 has brought together community members, public officials, and design professionals to craft a shared vision for the future of the Esplanade. The Feb. 9meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to hear and comment on the recommendations set forth in Esplanade 2020.

As part of the park’s centennial in 2010, TEA assembled a team of leading Boston design and planning specialists, the Esplanade 2020 Committee, to take a fresh look at every element of the park. Working closely with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, park users, and major stakeholders, this group of volunteers spent more than a year crafting a vision for the Esplanade. The committee held more than a dozen meetings with the general public and a variety of stakeholders to gather input, which helped the committee establish guiding principles, create a vision statement, and define objectives.

Esplanade 2020 illustrates ways in which these core principles, consistently applied, can transform Boston’s waterside park into one of the world’s great urban outdoor spaces.

The objectives of Esplanade 2020 are to present recommendations for the continued restoration and enhancement of the Esplanade for the next 100 years. Some ideas are big and ambitious, others more readily implemented. These ideas can provide context for very specific restoration projects and can serve as an inspiration and as a road map for future improvements on the Esplanade.

For more information on the project, please visit www.esplanadeassociation.org. To offer your thoughts, please send an e-mail to info@esplanadeassociation.org (please put “Esplanade 2020 Unveiled” in the subject line) or write to The Esplanade Association, Attn: Esplanade 2020, 376 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116.

Founded in 2001, The Esplanade Association is a park friends group dedicated to restoring and enhancing the Charles River Esplanade, a three-mile park along the Charles River between the Museum of Science and the Boston University Bridge and managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  The Esplanade Association partners with the DCR as well as with other non-profit organizations, businesses, and individuals to complete important capital projects, improve the park’s horticulture and to establish enriching programs at the park.  Each year, The Esplanade Association brings up to 2,000 volunteers to the Esplanade to help maintain and care for the park. To learn more about The Esplanade Association, please visit our website at www.esplanadeassociation.org or call us at 617-227-0365. The Esplanade Association office is located at 376 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116