Babson College breaks ground on Centennial Park

October 22, 2018 by bbrown Leave a Comment

Babson College this past Friday held a ceremonial groundbreaking for Centennial Park, a new central gathering place on campus that will be anchored by the relocated Babson Globe and Fountain of Flags.

The park (not to be confused with Wellesley’s Centennial Reservation), will recognize Babson’s 100th birthday next year when the project is complete. Centennial Park, featuring green space and trees, will be located across from the Reynolds Campus Center and Hollister Hall.

The park will be another piece of a major Babson campus transformation involving the sports/recreation complex, the library and a new innovation hub.

Babson Centennial Park groundbreaking — Babson leadership digs in…good thing they’re wearing hard hats

Wellesley brick crosswalks get a stamped epoxy facelift

October 10, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Tromp l’oeil artists from the Wellesley Department of Public Works and McNulty Construction Corporation were in Linden Square today making the formerly real brick crosswalks look like themselves again. But here’s the secret — the old brick has been tossed and the new crosswalks have been epoxy stamped to look like the real thing. Think of it as all the visual charm with none of the tripping hazards of the 15-year old degraded brick.

Today crews worked on the major crosswalk in front of the car dealership. They have three more to go on that stretch, and will continue west down Linden Street to the crosswalk just a little before the gas station. The project will continue through the end of this week. While running errands my curiosity was piqued when I saw the guys unrolling what looked something like a heavy-duty roll of chicken wire onto the smooth material of the crosswalk area. A few pictures are worth more than a thousand words…

The Linden Square crosswalks project is part of Wellesley’s recently adopted Complete Streets policy. The former crosswalks were made of brick, and while attractive, cold winter temperatures made some bricks heave up, creating a tripping hazard.

Check out our cool video of this project on our Instagram account. Follow us on Instagram while you’re there.

Traffic advisory: road work on and around Linden Street

September 16, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Street milling work will take place on Linden, Westerly, and Everett Streets through September 18, 7pm – 6am. There will be no parking on the roadways overnight at this time. After the grinding and sweeping process, the street will be re-opened for normal traffic.

While it is the Park and Highway’s intention to complete work on the days indicated, weather or equipment problems may cause the work to be delayed, in which case it will be done the following day or at soon as possible thereafter. No water can be present on the roadway from rain, sprinkler systems, washing cars, etc.

Any questions concerning the work should be directed to the Park and Highway Division at 781-235-7600 x3325.

What wild plans do you have for Wellesley Town Hall?

September 6, 2018 by bbrown Leave a Comment

Wellesley residents are invited to share their thoughts on restoring and renovating Town Hall at a public meeting in the very same building on Wednesday, September 12, at 7 p.m.

(We have more thoughts on the unfortunately titled “Wellesley Town Hall Visioning and Space Utilization Study.”)

Architectural firm McGinley Kalsow & Associates has been studying how to best rework the building for the benefit of staff and visitors, while addressing issues such as accessibility and character preservation.

Completed in 1886, the town hall (and one-time library) is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Exterior work has already been in process over the summer, as the current scaffolding suggests.

Wellesley crosswalk talk: Bricks be gone & back in black

September 6, 2018 by bbrown Leave a Comment

linden st crosswalk bricks — Work in progress on Linden Street

As part of its recently adopted Complete Streets policy, Wellesley is working to improve crosswalks to make them safer and more accessible for all and easier to maintain.

This includes those crosswalks on Linden Street, some of which are having their bricks replaced with stamped epoxy, similar to the decorative but smooth material you might be familiar with that’s in front of Roche Bros., and Citizens Bank in Linden Square.

crosswalk at citizens bank, Linden Square — Crosswalk in front of Citizens Bank

Other crosswalks on Linden Street are getting the less glamorous white-paint treatment that require less maintenance and is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The bricks, while lending a sophisticated air to the area, are also sometimes treacherous due to unevenness and degradation.

The new crosswalks should also make for quieter crossing by vehicles, something neighbors should appreciate.

The town installed the crosswalks in Linden Street when the area was redeveloped about 15 years ago, and their design was consistent with that used on Washington Street. The bricks have deteriorated to the point that they will be disposed of, according to the town.

Back in black

Meanwhile, over on Washington Street in front of Smith & Wollensky, that phantom crosswalk has been re-blackened to let people know it’s really not a crosswalk. Hopefully, the black and gray shades will meld over time.

It was temporarily a crosswalk back in 2016 while work was being done on the Belclare condo/retail complex, and months later it was blacked out (“Swellesley cracks ‘The case of the crazy crosswalk'”). But that didn’t last, and drivers and pedestrians were back to being confused over whether it was or was not a crosswalk (a parking space is smack in the middle of it).

Let’s hope it stays blacked out this time, not that I’ll be able to break my habit of softly braking as I drive through it.

crosswalk covered again washington st wellesley