Longtime Wellesleyites, devastated by the recent teardown of the historic Wellesley Country Club building (also known as the town’s 1880 birthplace) and the planned demolition of the 1938 Wellesley High School building, say they will not be denied in their bid to save the old Grossman’s sign and building in Lower Falls.
“That Grossman’s sign is our Fenway Citgo sign,” explained one preservationist, who requested anonymity. “I couldn’t find my way home without it.”
Art historians have described the Grossman’s sign and building as rare examples from the Industrial Orange period and say its disappearance would be a tragic loss to the town and more broadly, the worlds of architecture and design.
“It’s not as if this was a Grossman’s Bargain Outlet — it was a full-fledged Grossman’s,” the preservationist said.
Efforts are underway by the Save Gross outfit to work with builder National Development to ensure the mixed-use project it plans to break ground on this spring on the old Grossman’s site will incorporate historical aspects of the store. Reportedly, the apartments set to be built will be painted either orange or white, featuring flecks of paint scrapped off the Grossman’s building, and will be laid out by “aisles” commemorating the most beloved sections of the old store, such as screws and plumbing.
Separately, Wellesley College’s Davis Museum is considering an exhibit featuring artifacts from the site.
“It’s true that many Wellesley residents weren’t even alive when that Grossman’s store shut its doors,” said one preservationist. “But it would be a shame not to have some sort of closure.”
Wellesley seeks more businesses with the word “ass” in their name
Wellesley’s business leaders are making a push to lure more businesses into town with the word “ass” in their name now that Kickass Cupcakes has broken the ice.
“To be frank, we need to get edgier,” says one local business owner whose effort to change the town’s name from Wellesley to Hellesley each Black Friday was shot down at a meeting last May.
To get things rolling, any business with an “Associates” or “Association” in its title will be encouraged to shorten that to the grittier “Ass.”
The Chamber attempted to get the new Ace Hardware on Lindent St. to make a slight change to its first name to be in compliance with the marketing campaign, but has settled for the store selling a product called Anti Monkey Butt Powder at its counters.
Drunk Wellesley teens fire back: Neighbors need to talk
A group of intoxicated Wellesley teens have fired off a letter in response to a recent rant by a Wellesley woman in the local newspaper in which she called out teens and their parents for irresponsible behavior. Here’s a condensed version of that letter, titled:
Hey, Wellesley neighbor — do you know how to talk to other neighbors?
By Teenage Wasteland
OK, we admit it — we’re the cool kids in high school.
But as the children of Wellesley parents, we’re astounded by the attitude of a certain neighbor, who chose to point fingers in newspapers instead of hashing out problems on a person-to-person basis.
Earlier this month, you took a page from your husband’s book by penning an inflamatory column about us unruly kids . Now we miscreants are stuck cleaning up all the copies of that article our parents have rolled up into balls and tossed on our front lawns, and have seen our Facebook pages cluttered with endless chatter about your editorial as well.
As the weather gets warmer and neighbors see each other less because they’re off at their summer homes, we urge you to take advantage of the crummy spring weather to put down your quill pen and ask that old question: “Won’t you be my neighbor?”
Postscript: Our parents begged us not to write this letter, but of course we ignored them, said “Whatever” and went back to texting on on cellphones.
If you believed any of these stories, you might wanna check out this website for more information. More.
