Cracked tennis courts in Wellesley to get some Botox treatment

June 14, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

According to the Wellesley Park and Tree Division, the Hunnewell Fields tennis courts will be renovated this summer. All cracks will be sealed, and each court will be completely re-painted.

Department of Public Works Director’s Office employee Kristen Knudson-Groh said in an email that work on the Hunnewell courts “…will be done in two phases to allow four of the eight courts to stay open. Phase One of the project will begin Monday, August 13th, renovating courts #5 thru #8, and the practice area. Phase Two will start August 27th, renovating courts #1 thru #4.”

This schedule may be subject to change, due to weather.

Also during this period, the tennis courts at Schofield School will be closed for the same type of renovations. One of the two courts being renovated will include lining for Pickle Ball. Pickleball, if you aren’t familiar with it, is an increasingly popular paddle sport for 2 to 4 players that borrows from tennis, badminton and wiffleball. Wellesley hosts Pickleball games at spots such as the Rec Center at the Warren Building and at BSC Wellesley, and its popularity led to local players urging the town to line a couple of courts for outdoor play. Sounds like a sweet dill for everybody.

The $60,000 project is funded through the DPW’s Tax Capital, and the contract has been awarded to Vermont Recreational Surfacing & Fencing, of Barnet, Vermont.

pickleball-wellesley-bsc — Pickleball takes over tennis courts at BSC Wellesley

Cliff Road improvement project continues to next step

June 10, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

This from the Town of Wellesley:

The drainage work on the Cliff Road Improvement Project is now complete. The contractor, Perkins, will begin the sidewalk work on Monday June 11. We have asked the contractor to begin work on the northerly side of the roadway, which will take approximately one month to complete. This work includes removing the existing asphalt and concrete sidewalks, extending the sidewalk to White Oak Road and paving with asphalt. The sidewalk will also include a strip of treelawn in front of the sidewalk, separating the sidewalk from the roadway.

It is our intent to minimize the disruption of your normal routines as best we can. If you have any questions, at any time during the duration of the project, feel free to call the DPW Engineering Division at 781-235-7600, extension 3315.
Thank you for your patience.

Cliff Road improvement project, the first step

Wellesley Special Town Meeting okays $1 million for feasibility study

June 7, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

At the June 5 Special Town Meeting, members voted to OK $1 million for a Hunnewell feasibility study. The study will examine the question of whether Hunnewell can be renovated. If a renovation is deemed not feasible, it will be decided which elements of Hunnewell can be used and incorporated into a new building. A focus of the study will be on what the building looks like structurally. If it is found that the structure can’t be reused or reworked, decisions will then need to be made about what elements can be taken from that building and used in a new design.

The study, expected to be completed by March 2019, will look at architectural and engineering services and all associated costs related to the renovation, reconstruction, addition, consolidation, or replacement of the Hunnewell School.

Approximately 82% of Town Meeting members voted yes for the feasibility study.

Beyond Wellesley: a tornado tears through Hamden, CT — Mrs. Swellesley’s hometown

May 23, 2018 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

I grew up in Hamden, Connecticut known as “The Land of the Sleeping Giant” for its 738-feet tall popular hiking mountain that, from a distance, indeed looks like its namesake. The Sleeping Giant got a rude awakening last week when an EF1 tornado ripped through the northern section of town bringing with it eight minutes of maximum 110mph winds. It wreaked havoc 600 yards wide and 9.5 miles long, leaving a path of uprooted and snapped hardwood and pine trees. The National Weather Service confirmed that it was indeed a tornado, not just a macro or microburst.

There he is, Hamden’s Sleeping Giant Mountain. The State Park is a popular hiking destination. I spent my childhood rock scrambling and picnicking there. My kids have done the same on visits to grandma and grandpa.

Because I’ve got lots of Sandwich Generation stuff going on right now, I make the 4-hour round-trip to the New Haven suburb with increasing regularity these days. I was almost out the door and on my way there the evening of the event when I got a text from my mom’s neighbor. “House is OK but neighborhood is bad. Possible tornado.”

House is OK? I didn’t know it might not have been OK, such was my ignorance. I wasn’t worried about my mom. Her safety had been ensured a few months ago. Instead of cowering in the basement of her home all alone as a natural disaster swirled around her, mom was with caring people in an area that fortunately was not in the tornado’s path.

“Our street fared well,” the neighbor continued, but Quinnipiac University area got hammered. Know two people who had trees come into their house. Like BAD. Road is blocked off, so don’t even bother heading down. Landscape is changed forever.”

That landscape changed forever part sounded ominous. Now I was itching to get there and see for myself. What I saw a couple of days later was eye popping, and I’ve brought pictures back to share with you. I rolled in just as most of the roads were opening up and the town of 60,000, about a third who were directly affected by the storm, were firing up their chainsaws and clearing away the rubble. Quinnipiac University, which was in the direct path of the storm, carried on with its graduation ceremonies just a few days after May 15th event as if nothing had happened. That’s how you know those kids are going to be just fine out there in the world. Not even a tornado can stop them.

A family-friendly path winds up Sleeping Giant Mountain where at the top there is a 4-story stone castle. It was built between 1936 and 1939 by 60 workers through the Works Progress Administration as a Depression-era relief and recovery project. Here’s a view of the tornado from the top of the castle. Photo credit: Hailey Wilson, the girl is an absolute rock star. Look her up on Facebook for some riveting video she took of the tornado.

The severe weather moved fast, leaving a clearly delineated path of destruction. Hundreds of massive trees were uprooted by the 110-mph winds while hundreds others were sheared off leaving them jagged, splintered half-trees. Photo credit, Joseph Hawley. Drone

The tornado snapped trees like they were toothpicks.

I spent two hours touring the affected area with my Hamden BFFs and saw fallen trees down on dozens of houses. Every street in its 9.5-mile pathway had homes that suffered major damage to roofs, walls, and windows. Photo credit Hamden Historical Society

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The twists and turns of the Wellesley Hills Garden Club’s labyrinth project at Clock Tower Park

May 9, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Labyrinth, Wellesley Hills Clock Tower — The Hills Garden Club of Wellesley (HGCW), in conjunction with the Park & Tree Division, has almost completed a labyrinth located to the west side of Clock Tower Park.

The Hills Garden Club of Wellesley (HGCW), in conjunction with the town’s Park & Tree Division, has almost completed a labyrinth located to the west side of Clock Tower Park, located at 201 Washington St. in Wellesley Hills. The project interweaves stone and grass within the existing ground plane to create a contemplative, low‐maintenance space. The labyrinth, which was approved by the Design Review Board in October 2017, will include a Victorian-style bench and is Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

The 55-member Club has a long history of fundraising to maintain the National Register of Historic Places site. Over the years they’ve ponied up to enable the installation of trees, shrubs, perennials, and hardscaping such as the brick path and iron fencing. But it’s not all about the money. The HGCW is a working club. If your timing is just right, you can see club members, sleeves rolled up and gardening gloves on, helping out a Department of Public Works crew each year with summer clean-ups, fall bulb planting, and general help in maintaining and preserving what is their main civic project.

According to the Labyrinth Guild of New England, “In its simplest form the labyrinth is a walking meditative path. It can be used individually as an alternative to sitting meditation. Because it requires no figuring out, one can simply walk, allow the mind to quiet, and let the body take over. There are no rules, there is no right or wrong way. ” To encourage a metaphor here, just jump in anywhere on the path and perhaps you’ll find yourself meditating about your own life path as you walk the design. There are no tricks, no puzzle to decode, no minotaur demanding answers to arcane riddles. Once you’re in, the path simply takes you to the center and back out again. Sort of like the showroom floor at Jordan’s Furniture.

The idea for a labyrinth began during a club board meeting. HGCW member Connie Walkingshaw spearheaded the labyrinth project along with Town of Wellesley Landscape Planner Cricket Vlass. The Club earmarked funds from their 2015 Garden Tour to pay for the project. Deb Robi, publicity chair for the club said “Our club’s board and membership conceived of the idea and raised the funds for the project” mainly through the 2015 HGCW Garden Tour of four properties in Wellesley. Club members Lucy Lynch, Cynthia Ballantyne, and HGCW president Meribeth Harrington rounded out the project leadership.

The Club then approached the Town with the idea. “They had asked me to present some ideas for…Clock Tower Park landscape improvements that had begun in 2002 as a partnership between the garden club, the Department of Public Works, the Natural Resources Committee and eventually funded in part by Community Preservation Coalition,” Vlass said. “The WHGW really wanted to float the idea of building a labyrinth. I was gob-smacked as it had been a dream of mine for many years to create a public labyrinth and thought I was alone with the crazy thought. I should have known better! The club members love the park, are committed to enlivening the space and are dreamers with their feet firmly planted there. We were in accord and have been working together since to make it reality.”

The NRC approved the project with the stipulation that it be located adjacent to the west end pillars. Once NRC approval was in place, Vlass designed the labyrinth structure working directly with the club regarding design and location.

The Club has provided $8,730.00 to fund the materials and labor. Paul DePhillips and Tony Ferro from the Park & Tree Division are building it.

“The club has not requested a sign however, if we perceive a need, the option will be discussed. Honestly, I’m hoping that the concept of a labyrinth is well known enough and self-explanatory in nature that a sign will not be required,” Vlass said.

A completion date has not been pinned down. Attempts to start the project in late fall were stymied by the weather so now the Town is trying to get it done in within the very demanding constraints of the spring schedule realities. The cobbles must be installed and then soil will be brought in to fill between the cobbles. Next, the area will be sodded. A stone dust path and a Victorian bench will complete the project.

For more information about joining the club, email the club’s membership chairs at [email protected] or visit their website at HGCW.org.

Did you know that there are two other labyrinths (that we know of) in Wellesley? Pictures below…

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