The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley Square July Jubilation 2018 — your handy guide

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SPONSORED POST: Come join the fun at one of Wellesley’s most-loved summer traditions, the July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale, sponsored by The Wellesley Square Merchants’ Association. All the excitement takes place in Wellesley Square on Saturday, July 21, 9:30am – 4:30pm, when Central St. is closed to traffic and open to bouncy houses, a stilt walker, the bubble zone, and more.
Wellesley Square, July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale

The shopping and family fun extravaganza traditionally offers great opportunities to shop Wellesley first, as well as plenty of activities for kids at an event that has been going strong for over 25 years. Maybe it’s the petting zoo or the chance to enjoy the Wellesley Theatre Project’s skits. Maybe it’s the chance to drop a Wellesley firefighter into a dunk tank. Or maybe it’s just a great excuse to stroll around Wellesley Square and see what there is to see. Whatever your reason for going, you don’t want to miss the fun.

SHOPPING:  A record number of over sixty merchants will offer extraordinary savings at sidewalk sales from one end of the Square to the other. Whether you’re looking for toys, clothing, books, home decor, handbags, and more, merchants will be on the sidewalks and in the streets with deep discounts on good stuff.

FUN: Keep an eye out for the stilt walker, magic and balloon tricks, caricaturist, bubble zone, Rockin’ Railroad performances, bounce house, face painting, open police cruiser, and live music.

PARKING: All this and free parking too, thanks to the Town of Wellesley.

Wellesley Square, July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale

FOOD: Maybe your first stop will be Sam’s Hot Dogs at Church Square. Or enjoy the offerings at Bocado, B.Good, Upper Crust Pizza, and July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale’s newest addition, Smith & Wollensky.

MUSIC: The Wellesley Symphony; sing-a-long; disc jockey; live music by The Collective

For more information, go to ShopWellesleySquare.

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Now that Fuller Brook Park in Wellesley is all neat and tidy, help keep it that way

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Fuller Brook Park, Wellesley
Photo credit: Wellesley DPW.

Want to help take care of Fuller Brook Park? The Natural Resources Commission is developing a Fuller Brook Park stewardship program to help maintain this 23-acre crown jewel in Wellesley’s park system. The NRC will hold two workshops in July to train volunteers to recognize and remove invasive plants along the path and stream banks. Space is limited; sign up in advance to attend one of these sessions:

  • Monday, July 23 at 2 pm
  • Tuesday, July 24 at 9 am

Workshops will be held in Fuller Brook Park; meet at Cameron Street.

An Olmsted was here

Back in July 2014, the town broke ground on restoration of the 100-plus-year-old Fuller Brook Park project. The park was established in 1899 and designed by John Charles Olmsted (nephew of Frederick Law Olmsted and a noted landscape designer in his own right) and others. A large portion of the park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park runs roughly parallel to Washington Street along Fuller Brook and the Caroline Brook.

Fuller Brook Park, Wellesley
Photo credit: Wellesley DPW.

So many tasks

In late 2017, work was completed on the previously eroding 2.5-mile route. Here are just a few things the town and outside contractor R. Bates & Sons, Inc. did:

– installed raised walkways and new boardwalk sections
– installed bioretention basins to filter stormwater and improve water quality in Caroline and Fuller Brooks
– completed roadway drainage work and installed granite curbing
– improved roadway drainage to protect from spills and other pollutants and remove contaminants from stormwater before it enters Fuller Brook
– installed stylish new stone markers, benches, and interpretive signs
– reduced standing water
-stabilized banks
-removed invasive vegetation such as knotweed
-planted over 25 different species of grasses and herbaceous flowering plants to create a diverse habitat attractive to insects, birds, and small mammals
-installed boulder clusters to enhance stream habitat
-created a path to link the park, Wellesley High School, and the WHS athletic fields
-upgraded drain pipes and repaired 5 bridges and culverts

The best-laid plans…

What fun would this have been without a late afternoon macroburst on July 18, 2016 (pictures of the damage here) just to keep things interesting? The wild wind storm tore through parts of Wellesley, including the section of Fuller Brook Park between Grove Street and Dover Road. In Fuller Park several large old maples, oaks, and pines suffered significant damage. Luckily no one was hurt. The DPW Park Department had to first remove hazards blocking the park path, then remove trees impacting the construction contractor’s access to the project, and then remove downed trees from Fuller Brook itself.

It didn’t come free

The total project cost was a little over $600,000; the United States Environmental Protection Agency covered 60%, and the Town of Wellesley covered 40%.

Check out the project final report here.

On August 3, 2017 the NRC and DPW hosted a pizza lunch for the R. Bates & Sons, Inc. construction workers who put three years of work into the Fuller Brook Project. The town presented them with framed photos of various park views. Pictured: Bates Project Manager Jim Learned, Joe Milton, Paul Guadagnoli, Riley Ballou, Site Superintendent Kevin Coughlin, and DPW Project Manager Peter Jackson. Missing from the pic is Tim Ballou, a Bates employee who was onsite almost every day of the three-year project. Photo and caption credit: Wellesley DPW.
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White’s Bakery & Cafe coming to Wellesley

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You heard it from The Browns first — White’s Bakery & Cafe is coming to Wellesley in the former TD Bank location in Playhouse Square on Washington Street. The business is owned by David White who according the the company website started out in 1980 with no formal culinary or baking education but who had “…a love for food, working with his hands, and an inability to sleep late or sit still.”

Expect White’s to bring to Wellesley all the yummy things they offer at their other locations in Brockton, Hingham, and Mansfield: breakfast items such as muffins, danishes, and croissants; sweet treats; artisanal breads, pies, cakes, and tortes as well as savory lunch items like calzones, pastas, and paninis.

TD Bank Forest st
White’s Bakery & Cafe expects to move into the former TD Bank location at Playhouse Square in Fall 2018, according to their website.

Back in 2016, Wellesley, Needham and State Police joined forces to nab 3 suspects who attempted to rob TD Bank at Playhouse Square. Let’s hope White’s doesn’t see any of that kind of action once they move in.

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They paved the Wellesley paradise that is Mark’s Pizza & Subs and put in a parking lot

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We heard from a reader that the much-loved Lower Falls area eatery, Mark’s Pizza & Subs, closed since early summer, was in the process of being torn down. The neighborhood institution has indeed been flattened to make way for a parking lot for Papa Razzi, itself temporarily closed while they renovate the interior, tweak the menu, and put in an outdoor seating area.

Behrend Construction, Wellesley
Dean Behrend, in the middle of the construction zone that was once Mark’s Pizza & Subs. Wellesley doesn’t get much grittier than this.

I spoke to Dean Behrend of Behrend Construction who was on hand at the work site. His crew had been tasked with tearing down Mark’s. The bear of a man said it was a bear of a job, given the concrete and steel the building was made of. But they did it, and will now turn their attention to the clean-up phase. The company is also part of the team working on the other components of making Papa Razzi Wellesley-ready once more. “They renovated only about five years ago,” Behrend said, “but restaurants get a lot of wear and tear.”

In a competitive restaurant climate, it’s update or go down because no eatery wants the dreaded social media comment, “the interior is a little dated,” applied to their place.

Unless you’re Mark’s and part of the local institution’s fanatical fan base. Where others see “dated”, that fan base sees the shared history of so many, many pizzas, subs, chicken tenders, and more. These are the folks who can’t understand why anyone would pave the paradise that was Mark’s and put in a parking lot. Well, what’s done is done.

Behrend Construction, Wellesley
All that’s left of Mark’s is a tangle of steel and a pile of concrete.

But there’s hope. Mark’s website notes, “We are currently closed as we prepare our new location 10B Washington Street. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to see you when we reopen.” No word on when that will be, and the phone number dials to a recording that says the number has been “temporarily disconnected.” So those hungry for Mark’s will have to hang their hopes on those positive signs and hope that it will indeed soon rise from the rubble and reincarnate over at 10B Washington St.

Behrend Construction, Wellesley
Marks Pizza & Subs, before

While I was there taking pics I had the opportunity to meet one of Swellesley’s great news sources, who just so happened along and introduced herself, so that was fun. “Make sure you use that paradise line you just said. That was a good one.” She’s got a nose for news and an ear for dialogue, so yup, I put it in.

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