• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

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

  • Advertise
  • Wellesley Square
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Camp
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Live government meetings
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Fire & police scanner
  • 2023 Town Election
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Sneak peek: We get a look at the Babson College globe

April 5, 2019 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The Babson College Globe has loomed large at the Wellesley business school since 1950, but for decades the 25-ton, 28ft-diameter sphere has been tucked away on a part of campus seldom visited by outsiders. When the idea took hold of creating a park to serve as a centerpiece along the main road of the college, the entrepreneurial school started to think outside the sphere. Their decision would reverberate in a global way.

Babson College globe
Babson College Globe, before renovation. 2005.

In a move of incredible chutzpah, Babson actually moved the world. Not only that, they solved all the planet’s major problems. It wasn’t spinning on its axis properly, so they bought Earth some shiny new orbiting equipment. Next, Babson put the round globe in a square structure to keep it warm over the winter (what could go wrong there?). Finally, you know that old saying, “It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.”? Such a defeatist attitude means nothing to Babson College. That’s right. They painted the world.

The globe is about to go from hidden gem to iconic landmark as work nears completion on Kerry Murphy Healey Park, a campus centerpiece slated to debut this spring in celebration of the school’s 100th birthday. The park, funded through millions of dollars in donations, will honor outgoing Babson President Healey, the school’s first female president, and former Massachusetts lieutenant governor.

I got a sneak peek inside the iconic campus landmark as work on the globe nears completion. This was the most fun Wellesley sneak peek story I’ve ever done (there Mr. Swellesley, we’re now even on that Sprague Memorial Clock Tower visit you had).

Come fly around the world with me.


We’re going in to see how the work crew is doing on the year-long refurbishment of the Babson College Globe.


This site visit so exceeded my expectations. I totally believe in dangerous climbs and was 100% game to go straight up, no net, no ropes. It was just me versus the close equivalent of El Capitan. I am so Free Solo. Nice photobomb, dude.

Left to right: Artists Josh Falk and Dana Woulfe from Boston-based Studio Fresh did the painting. David Grissino, Wellesley resident and Babson’s Director of Capital Projects and Planning, was my tour guide. Grissino has been very busy, indeed. Healey park is just the latest major campus transformation in the past five years. Others include the in-progress sports/recreation complex renovation, the library, and a new innovation hub.

In the 1980s, the Babson College Globe barely avoided the wrecking ball after falling into disrepair. At one point covered in enamel tiles, the globe underwent a facelift in the early 1990s and Babson rededicated it  in 1993 with fresh vinyl tiles and new satellite imagery.


The Babson Globe itself has been around since 1955 and the 28-feet-in-diameter sphere is one of the largest of its kind.


Studio Fresh has restored the colorful surface of the Globe. Decades of exposure to the elements had left the surface faded, and the paint had peeled away in sections.


There’s the United States. Wellesley is in there just a bit east of the Grand Canyon. To get the Globe across campus, in February 2019 it was eased up onto a flatbed truck and gently transported to its new permanent home at the work-in-progress Healey Park, slated for opening this spring.





This is just one gear that will help make the Globe spin, something it hasn’t done since the early 1990s. In true Babson style, the college will have the power to make the world spin fast or slow. Should we be nervous? In all, the mechanics in the base weigh 22 tons.


The globe, artists, and workers have been sheltered all winter. When the park is complete, there will be over 100 trees of various sizes and types in a natural-type landscape. The goal is for the park to be a gathering place for students and campus visitors. The park will It will also boast a statue of school founder Roger Babson as well as a reworked edition of the Fountain of Flags, previously in place in front of the Horn Library. Space has been made so that all 100 flags will fly, representing the home countries of the extensive international student body. The Fountain of Flags had room for less than half that number, leaving someone with the unofficial job of “flag swapper” every now and then.

Former home of Babson Globe, Coleman Former base for the Babson Globe, Coleman Hall.

While the Babson community might be all donated out for now, others are welcome to park their donations at The Swellesley Report to support our independent journalism venture.

print

Filed Under: Babson College, Business, Construction

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Riverbend, Natick

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Before you dump that box of Pokémon cards at the Wellesley Give & Take...
  • Business buzz: Nantucket wine bar to boast Wasik's cheeses; Needham Bank has new Wellesley branch manager; Thanks to new sponsor Beacon Hill Athletic Clubs
  • Does Wellesley need a new traffic light? Slow down before you drive to any conclusions
  • Live music coming to Wellesley's Lockheart Restaurant

Upcoming Events

Jan 31
9:00 am - 11:00 am Recurring

Coffee and Conversation with the Wetlands Administrator and Staff

Jan 31
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Families Eat Together online presentation

Feb 1
11:59 pm

Deadline for Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club grants application

Feb 3
Featured Featured 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sara Campbell winter warehouse sale

Feb 4
Featured Featured 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sara Campbell winter warehouse sale

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • David B on Does Wellesley need a new traffic light? Slow down before you drive to any conclusions
  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Peggy Heffernan on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Beth Dublin on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Erika on Where to buy the Wellesleyest stuff in Wellesley

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (3)
  • Animals (428)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (592)
  • Beyond Wellesley (52)
  • Books (376)
  • Business (1,559)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (236)
  • Construction (300)
  • Dump (130)
  • Education (3,190)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (36)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (47)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (46)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (613)
    • Wellesley High School (996)
    • Wellesley Middle School (204)
  • Embracing diversity (84)
  • Entertainment (814)
  • Environment (772)
  • Fashion (144)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (173)
  • Food (358)
  • Fundraising (641)
  • Gardens (164)
  • Government (604)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (866)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (400)
  • Holidays (440)
  • Houses (162)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (867)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (73)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (580)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (280)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (655)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (778)
    • Crime (395)
  • Politics (554)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (344)
  • Religion (138)
  • Restaurants (340)
  • Safety (155)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (127)
  • Shopping (163)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,012)
    • Athlete of the Week (12)
  • STEM (108)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (240)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,244)
  • Volunteering (350)
  • Weather (179)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (280)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login