The Wellesley Recreation Commission this week held a public hearing (see Wellesley Media recording) to share the latest on plans for redeveloping the Morses Pond beachfront area, including new bathhouse and administrative buildings on the opposite side of the beach.
A plan has been under discussion since 2018, with meetings between the town’s design/engineering/architect partners and the Select Board, Natural Resources Commission, the Rec Commission and the public taking place along the way. The pandemic didn’t exactly speed up the process of finalizing an associated feasibility and design study. But the town’s partners said they are now looking to finalize a report for the town by year-end if their design is approved soon.
Assuming that happens, the Rec Commission’s Mark Wolfson said that the hope is to get approval for the engineering and design phase at Annual Town Meeting in the spring, and then get approval for the project itself a year later. Rec Commission members are hopeful that the Community Preservation Committee will come through with much of the funding, based on its favorable reception to the general plan, with the town covering the rest.
Johnathan Law with engineering & design firm Weston & Sampson shared an update on the master plan for this project introduced in 2021, and acknowledged that due to rising construction, materials, and labor costs, the grand vision has been scaled back. “We can deliver a great project, but at the same time try to make it as cost efficient as possible,” he said, noting the original project plan would cost about $7.6 million.
Some $1 million in elements cut from the original plan would include a boardwalk along Ice Pond, a wood deck near the beach, and an exercise equipment area (many of these elements could be added back later if funding became available). Also shelved are parking lot changes that could be moot anyway due to the possibility of pickleball courts heading to that space (nothing firm here).
Retained are designs to make the Morses Pond beachfront and amenities more accessible to anyone, and existing features such as the swing set will remain.
Site work estimates have been cut from nearly $4 million to more like $2.5 million for additional savings.
Architect Zac Cardwell from the firm of Maryann Thompson dove into the look and feel of the planned changes, including new buildings made from natural materials—possibly timber frame—and featuring lots of windows (for eyes on the beach, for safety) and shade areas to help patrons get out of the sun. Sustainability boxes have been checked as well. The architecture firm has worked on other local beach projects, including the bathhouse at Walden Pond in Concord.
Questions from residents at the meeting included those related to sun protection during different times of the day, potential loss of view based on tree plantings, traffic safety on a new access road, availability of bike racks, the possible use of technology to ease patron check-ins, and availability of lockers for keeping personal items secured.
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It’s been a long time now but Wellesley College had a mooring area next to their boathouse on lake Waban for Town residents to launch canoes, sailboats etc. They closed it down so town residents have no access to the lake. This leaves Morses Pond as the only other body of water for residents to use for boating. It would be nice if the Town planned a mooring area and easy access boat ramp for such use, preferably to the right of the beach. What I see in the redevelopment plan is maybe an afterthought for boating with existing boat ramp? Is boating encouraged in this plan?
There actually was some discussion of boating during the informational meeting, so yes, there is something in the plans. I believe you can also launch onto Lake Waban from within the Wellesley campus down near their boat house, though am not sure what the public parking situation is down there
One discussion not reviewed, is the pond itself and maintaining the safety of the water for individual pleasure and wildlife and a town water source Over the years, we have continually heard of tragic drownings and poor control of the milfoil in the pond. It is a water source and needs to be maintained more efficiently The major obstacle is the harvesting. We now have an amazing new harvester.
The harvester is stored off of the pond which takes a tremendous amount of town workers and police etc to transport the harvester
The harvesting truly needs to be started in early May and end in mid September. In order to accomplish this earlier start and save money, ——why don’t we take a portion of the proposed parking area or pond area and create a garage with power for the storage of the new machine
This project is a perfect time to be cost effective by addressing the new harvester storage facility.
Our pond is precious and enjoyed by many Let’s preserve the pond and wildlife and our enjoyment by truly coming up with a better solution for the new harvester.