"The Charles River has not yet told us what it wants to be." Finance Committee member Julian Munnich said that in September, as Natick Report recounted, during the debate over paying for new parks around the old South Natick Dam. He was arguing against settling on a park design too early. His line also fits the river as it is today. The concrete is gone and the pond has drained. What's left on Eliot Street is a riverbed that hasn't picked its final shape. The town's own plan holds the riverfront phase of the parks until the bank has re-naturalized.
So the next few months are their own season. Next year's version of this stretch of the Charles will be greener, deeper in its channels and probably rebuilt along the edges. This fall shows it in between.
What came out, and what stayed
According to Natick Report's September 8 update, the concrete spillway has been removed and masons have been repairing the retaining walls. The Town of Natick's project FAQ had the fish ladder coming out along with the spillway. The September update reported that the fish ladder is now staying, for structural support. The same report says the next phase is monitoring river flow, where the sediment moves and whether invasive plants move in.
Some of the site was always meant to stay. The town FAQ says part of the spillway, the dam's gate structure and the old millstones near the viewing area will be preserved and worked into the future park layout. It also says historical signage is being developed with the Natick Historical Society and area tribes. The trees on the earthen berm are staying too. The FAQ explains that repairing the dam would have meant clear-cutting about 60 mature shade trees on Grove Park to meet state safety rules, and would have ruled out replanting there.
You can't walk under those trees yet. As of September, Grove Park, where the trees and picnic tables are, was still closed. Old Town Park, on the Bacon Free Library side, had mostly reopened. The town FAQ expects construction to end by October 31, 2026, but it doesn't give a date for Grove Park to reopen.
The river, by the measuring stick
The town told residents ahead of time what the drawdown would change. Here's how the FAQ's projections compare with what a paddler found in October:
| Before removal | Town's projection | Seen on Oct. 10, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water depth just upstream | Artificial 8 to 10 feet | Natural 2 to 4 feet | Under a foot in places |
| Shape of the water | Wide pond | Narrower, flowing channel | Shallow stretches, rock piles |
| Moving water | Spillway drop | Possible riffle or gentle rapids | A short section of rough rapids |
The last column comes from a Natick Report account of an hour-long kayak trip on October 10. The writer put in at the Eliot Street launch across from Justin Road. The measuring stick on the Pleasant Street bridge showed less than a foot of water. The writer noted that the recent nor'easter had raised levels for a while and the trip came after that water had gone. The rapids the town predicted are there. The writer called them much gentler than the old spillway but rough enough to rock a boat, and possibly flip one depending on the craft.
The trip also passed landmarks that look different with the water down. There's a shallow run under the privately owned red footbridge, a close look at the Virgin Mary statue on her stone perch, newly exposed mudflats below the homes along Route 16, and the dam gates now standing out of the water at the former spillway. The Pleasant Street bridge arches took some working through. Past the buildings downstream, the paddling smoothed out, with fall color on the trees, a painted turtle sliding off a rock and two herons overhead.
"To be continued… in the spring."
That's how the account ends. It suggests Elm Bank for anyone who wants to paddle nearby in the meantime. The town FAQ lists this section of the river as closed to on-river recreation during construction, roughly June 22 through October 31. Once construction is done, it describes the trip as shallower and narrower, but open along 19.6 miles of the Charles with no spillway to portage around.
Why the mud won't last
Once you know what the bare banks are, they're the most interesting part of the view. The FAQ says environmental testing found the sediment clean. It also warns that a sulfur or musty smell may show up at first, as trapped sediment and decaying vegetation dry out in the air and sun. The town expects seeds already in the soil to sprout quickly and turn the mudflats into green wetland within one growing season.
By next summer, then, most of what you can see from the Pleasant Street bridge this fall should be covered in plants. The channel will keep moving too. Natick Report's paddler wrote that the river is expected to carve deeper channels over time. The FAQ adds a longer-term change you won't see this year. Native migratory fish, including American shad, trout and eels, will be able to swim upstream to spawn here for the first time in nearly a century.
The park plan is waiting on the river
Because the shape of the riverbank is still changing, the park plan is built in phases around it. The town has treated dam removal and park improvements as two separate projects. The removal was funded by a $1 million Massachusetts Dam and Seawall grant plus an expected town contribution of about $100,000. The parks need their own money.
That funding is where things stand now. As Natick Report laid out on October 5, Natick was not selected for a $1.243 million state Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant to renovate Grove Park and the run-down multipurpose park area along Pleasant Street. On September 15 the Finance Committee voted 8 to 5 to refer the matching Community Preservation Act request, Article 8 Motion C, back to its sponsor. The town had already put $82,500 in CPA money toward design work the previous fall. The decision goes to Fall Annual Town Meeting, which opened October 20, and Community Preservation Committee Chair Bill Ramage said the CPC still planned to bring Motion C to the floor. The town's Town Meeting page is where the outcome will be posted.
The Finance Committee split over timing more than over whether the parks should be improved. Kat Monahan argued that the town made a fair attempt at state money and that CPA funds are another legitimate source. Munnich argued for another try at state funding and questioned designing a park before the river finishes changing. Deputy Town Administrator for Operations Jon Marshall said stopping and restarting is the hardest thing for limited staff to absorb.
The town has been specific about what it wants either way. According to the FAQ, the Recreation & Parks Department is designing upgrades for the whole South Natick riverfront park network now, in phases. The first phase covers scenic overlook decks with upstream views, upgraded picnic areas, a shade structure, pollinator rain gardens, accessibility improvements and more historic features. A second phase, focused on activating the riverfront, will be designed as the river's edge re-naturalizes. The FAQ notes those improvements could bring temporary closures starting in 2027.
A late-fall loop along Eliot Street
With Grove Park closed and the riverbed still exposed, the easiest way to see the change is on foot, using the Eliot Street places that are open.
- Start at Old Town Park and Bacon Free Library, 58 Eliot St. The library is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday until 8 p.m., and Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The park side had largely reopened by September, which gives you a view across to the old dam site.
- Stop at the Natick Historical Society, in the library's lower level. On Saturday, November 7, from 2 to 4 p.m., it hosts "Skating in Natick," collecting residents' skating memories and showing skating artifacts.
- Walk across the Pleasant Street bridge to see the measuring stick, the arches and the mudflats from above.
- Finish downstream at Mass Audubon's Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, 280 Eliot St. Trails are open Tuesday through Sunday and on Monday holidays, dawn to dusk. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and children. The 1-mile Charles River loop follows the bank for nearly half a mile, and Broadmoor notes that its tupelos turn burgundy in the fall.
Broadmoor's schedule for the rest of the season includes a Family Owl Prowl on Friday, October 30, Busy Beavers by the Boardwalk on Friday, November 6, and a Fungi Field Walk on Saturday, November 7. If you go to the Fungi Field Walk that Saturday, the Historical Society's skating afternoon is the same day, back up Eliot Street.
Frank Neer and his team keep a close eye on the changes along the Charles in South Natick, from the Town Meeting vote on the parks to the first spring paddle after the spillway. If you'd like to talk about how these riverfront changes affect a home near Eliot Street, or just compare notes on what the river looks like next season, Frank Neer is glad to help. Contact Us.
