Charlesgate Park, “the crown jewel” of the Emerald Necklace, was once seen as the panoramic connector to the Charles River by Frederic Law Olmsted. Destroyed in the late 1960s by the construction of the Bowker Overpass highway connector, a grassroots movement known as the Friends of the Charlesgate has formed to seek the removal of the Bowker and the restoration of the park to Olmsted’s model. Led by Harvey “Hef” Fisher, chairman of the Friends of Charlesgate, this tour and discussion will focus on the way the Charlesgate is today, how it once was and how the Friends envision what it can be again.