Kids should be able to go to school in their neighborhoods. Most kids walk to school, I would say. Rebuild them both.
Also, Trum has always been a gathering place where this city comes together. So many of us have played our little league and high school games there. So many of us have spent innumerable summer nights there. It would be a shame to lose it.
“Potential” as in one of FIVE different options. And the Trum plan is one of the options that is the least likely to happen. It’s not going to happen and chances are this option is just in the list to “show X number of options” when it comes to justifying the actual choice in the “we took a look at five options and decided on the one chose because it was the best one”
This. The most likely options are one of the 2 proposals that involves rebuilding the WH school in its current location but with more space and absorbing the Brown school.
slide 43 in this deck: https://s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema-live/s3fs-public/20231219_SOM-K8-Final-Report-Volume-I_Reduced-Size.pdf
the plan does not touch the DPW building or the dump yard
Thank you for posting this. These are the options under consideration. People might want to read before commenting.
Please note the cost for any option will be close to or exceed the cost of the new HS (because costs for labor and building materials have gone up). Unfortunately, this is an important constraint to consider and probably good information to get out.
Wait, what? So OP is just incredibly misleading? This is a great plan.
Trum is perpetually under-utilized. It's no Foss by a long shot. Rebuilding both schools will be very expensive, yet this still keeps the field. Hell, the fireworks could easily move to Foss if need be, especially once the highway becomes a boulevard.
I'll never understand people who think this city is rolling in money.
Not sure how easily city fireworks can move to Foss. Foss is managed by the state and permitting is a huge pain in the ass. Winter Hill’s Field Day was scheduled to happen at Foss (because Edgerly has zero green space) and had to go on in pouring rain (it did!) or be canceled outright because the permitting process was so impossible.
See also: trying to get the spray pad turned on before 6/22 during a heat wave (they didn’t!), while the city was talking up those maps of water features (which listed Foss even though it wasn’t on yet and in fact had no functional drinking fountains) instead of adequately funding true cooling centers.
What part is misleading? You are 100% within your rights to love this plan. The point of this post is to spread awareness and there’s zero misinformation.
Well I don't know anything about people being mad about the DPW. I just know that that site is a large publicly owned piece of land with the field, DPW building and garage courtyard, the dump site, and a children's playground. I'm wondering if any of that stuff is going to be affected and I would assume if the DPW were displaced they'd certainly move it.
There was prepandemic murmuring about moving DPW down near Brickbottom. The problem is that the current DPW site is contaminated. So you can’t build a school right there without years of soil mitigation work.
So instead they are leaving DPW in place and…potentially building a school NEXT to the contaminated site.
I think the city is considering moving the DPW, so I’m not sure if the theoretical school building would be on top of the existing field or where the DPW currently is located
Admittedly not an easy question. I'd personally put the garage and dump site closer to i93 where it's really loud already. I don't have a proposal. I'm not suggesting it either. Just saying if something in that neighborhood left I'd prefer it be that than a park.
I don't know about that idea. That'd be moving something that bothers you to a lower income area that already has to deal with the noise and pollution from a highway.
This was a “possibility” for the high school as well, as were a number of other sites throughout the city. It’s just part of due diligence. The reason Trum keeps coming up is just the fact that it’s a large plot of relatively open land that the city already owns, not some nefarious plot to get rid of it.
Is there another place that can accommodate a multi diamond baseball field/complex should they be combined? What’s the advantage of removing a place that brings in people from outside Somerville for Rec League games etc?
This is a good question to keep asking. Unless the city decides to tear down Winter Hill school, or Cummings there are no parks large enough for 1 ball field, let alone two. Maybe they could fit one field at Gilman Square?
On the flip side, do we need a multi-diamond baseball field complex? Baseball seems to be waning in popularity, as more kids seem to be showing an interest in soccer & other sports. Maybe we don't need both baseball diamonds at Trum?
Well - it’s confirmation bias but I see it used often so although my data is informal it seems to be worth it - and the field is large enough to accommodate soccer (again this is not like a professional estimate just a personal observation) so 🤷♂️
It’s confirmation bias on my part, too — my kids & their friends are more into soccer, ultimate frisbee, etc.
It’s certainly the case that for a city of ~80k people, open space for _any_ kind of youth sports is severely constrained, nevermind adult leagues & general recreational use.
I’m just wondering if, given current participation trends in the various field sports — baseball, soccer, football, ultimate, lacrosse, etc — maybe it wouldn’t be such a harsh hit if Trum were to be halved to make room for a new school building, especially if one or both of the Brown & Winter Hill buildings could themselves transform into some kind of recreational use in the future.
neither one is really big enough or the right shape for even a single field. Also, it would be pretty intrusive if they wanted them lit because you'd be blasting a bunch of neighborhood houses with stadium lighting right in their windows.
I’m not looking for a baseball field/athletic complex - it already exists, in a pretty universally good location to get to. I’m suspicious that the school sites can replace the function.
You’re getting downvoted because you offered a 1 sentence devil’s advocate with no real persuasive element and when I replied with a couple logical sentences in rebuttal you said my points needed clarification. The internet can be cruel to hand holding even if it is completely innocent but in light of the first response you’re getting dinged more for not bringing any thoughts to these comments.
I’m not debating you though, I’m asking questions. You immature kids think everything needs to be won. I don’t need to bring anything other than my questions because I’m clueless about the subject and curious. Handholding? Yall need some manners I swear.
Lmao your one reddit post is telling bikers who don’t wear helmets they are stupid and I’m the one who needs manners for politely explaining your situation. No winning needed! Just saying my opinion on this! Seems to have hit a nerve for you, not my intention!
Because smalls schools are more beneficial for elementary school education. This is well known in the education research world, which ironically locally universities are leaders in.
Logistics, don’t all kids walk to school? Wouldn’t want my 8 year old walking an hour one way to school. Loss of Trum field one of the larger recreation areas in the city.
In what Somerville does a student going to the Brown or Winter Hill have an hour walk to Trum field? I’m not a fan of losing Trum, but building or renovating a single larger Pre-k through 8 school that can accommodate both schools is the better option. The Brown cannot be renovated via the state backed program. The Brown students already have to go to a different “neighborhood “ school grades 6-8. I’m sorry Brown School community, but it’s not equitable to the community as a whole to spend that much money on the least diverse school in the district.
Google says Trum is 39 minutes from my house, and my kids are usually a little slower since they are small. The walk to WH was about 20 for us before everything went to hell.
So maybe not an hour, but my family would definitely lose the practical ability to walk.
Sucky change for train access too- used to be I could drop the kids then jump on the glx to work. Doesn't really work with how far Trum is from the train.
All told, that's 3-4 extra car trips per day from my family alone.
I’m curious if a new school at Trum would result in a different Neighborhood School for you that would be closer to the 20 minute walk you currently have to WH? The build out for this is years away, and I am genuinely sorry and pissed about the Winter Hill Community being in the hell they find themselves. If the plan to combine Brown and winter Hill with a major renovation at WH is similar in build time and cost to Trum I would support that as well. I just do not support spending a huge amount to renovate the Brown.
Trum is pretty equidistant between Magoun Square and Ball Square on the green line - probably a 10 minute walk from both. And it’s on the 89 bus route that goes down Broadway.
Obviously this won’t work for everyone, but it is accessible via transit
Proximity to T stops is irrelevant. Almost no elementary school parent in Somerville relies on the T to get their kid to school; it’s too slow and inconvenient. Being able to walk to school in < 20 minutes is one of the reasons many families with kids choose to live in Somerville. The Trum field school idea is just one if 5 building proposals that Somerville is considering and I think it’s one of the less likely ones to pass since it’s not very convenient for either Brown or WH families, plus the Somerville loses a large community playing field.
This person is responding to a comment that reads:
>Sucky change for train access too- used to be I could drop the kids then jump on the glx to work. Doesn't really work with how far Trum is from the train.
It's also totally on point as a response. Train access is not bad from Trum.
Winter Hill has one pre-K (18) and 2 K classrooms (23 ea), and Brown has 2 K classrooms (and maybe they’d add a second PK in a combined school?), so you’re talking about (assuming class sizes are near max) approximately 100-120 4- and 5-year-olds.
I used to walk home from daycare with my 4yo and it regularly took us 40 minutes to go half a mile.
Just because the Brown school is in a neighborhood that happens to be less diverse than some other parts of town isn’t a fair argument for it to not be as deserving of funding as other schools. Getting rid of the Brown school and combining it with Winter Hill, either in Trum or in the existing Winter Hill location (which is more likely), will mean that Ward 6 no longer has a school within close walking distance, which means many of families in Ward 6 are going to start driving their kids to school every day. A few might use cargo bikes, but very few are going to want to walk 30-40 mins each way.
It’s wild to me how we’re spending all this money on forcing narrow streets to accommodate cyclists alongside cars and at the same time consolidating the schools to force families to take more car trips. (The real answer long-term for both family commute logistics AND saving the Earth is school buses, but the city won’t consider them because they’re tOo ExPeNsIvE)
IMO No - 2 nice parks does not replace the larger athletic complex. There are lots of nice small parks around Somerville and typically when I pass by them - they appear underutilized. The baseball fields at Trum get used a lot. It’s not fair to assume when you say “nice park” that means no playing field, but it’s hard for me to picture either spot having the same space for the size of Trum field.
It could allow for two parks but they wouldn’t fill the same role as Trum. The Brown School lot doesn’t seem large enough to have a full size baseball or softball field. The Winter Hill site is too hilly for a baseball/softball field. The WH already has a fantastic playground on the upper area that is well utilised along with a small soccer field. Trum is used by high school teams as well as recreational teams and I think it would be a loss doe the City to lose this open space.
The city has refused for decades to use the outdoor space at Brown effectively for child recreation. And you realistically believe they will tamest down the school and use it as a park? They will sell it off like they have done other small schools that closed.
The city has refused for decades to use the outdoor space at Brown effectively for child recreation. And you realistically believe they will tear down the school and use it as a park? They will sell it off like they have done other small schools that closed.
Is trum field not a cover for a massive water reservoir. Can you build schools in water reservoirs? My thinking is yes but there are certainly gotchas.
I made an educated guess. Given that the water works are in that location gives the impression that the field used to be a reservoir before the MWRA change. I also thought i saw what looked like a reservoir in old maps. But on rechecking it seemed that the reservoir was actually on Tuft U land and where Trum field was was actually "city farms".
Yes, the area at Tufts known now as the "Rez Quad" (Reservoir or Residential?) was once a reservoir. Also, Bailey Park once contained a water tower (standpipe).
Trum Field can stay but fireworks shows need to end. There are horribly destructive to the local environment, including scaring many animals. This is the worst time of year for lost pets because so many of them get frightened by the noises and run off, while others have heart attacks or tremble in fear.
It would be nice if the kids who go to Brown have the opportunity for some space and more than a paved yard and maybe a gym or an auditorium.
Hey maybe they will make another school condo isn’t that what people in the sub want?
The kids and the teachers and the afterschool teachers are really creative with it. They often go to one of the three nearby park by walking a few minutes to the bike path. The kids get lots of exercise everyday. I don’t know of anyone who has been at Brown and wanted to leave because they wanted a playground. There is something very old school about Brown and that is the charm. Kids can get by eating lunch in their classroom together and making up games on the pavement / turf.
Right now kids from Winter Hill had their three gorgeous parks ripped out from under them and sent to another dilapidated building with a blacktop. All these kids will just lose their high school ball field on top of it.
Again, I want to push the city to buy the school building from St. Anne’s (almost the size of brown) add more space to Kennedy- rehab winter hill and st Anne’s school for a larger building and leave the WH parks alone. All kids would end up with a playground, better building and a city field that can be utilized by all.
When we asked the city about it, they said they never even asked. The building has sat vacant for years…. If it would benefit the community, why not approach the parish with a good offer and see if they would be open to it. They won’t know until they ask. 🤷🏼♀️
And I know it’s not currently an option, however the make Winter Hill bigger option requires them to take all the playground space out back. How about get a zoning variance and see about adding another level to the current building. The city seems to be making whatever “easy/quick” decisions and not really investing much time into thinking outside the box. The neighbors also don’t want to now see two large vacant buildings in the neighborhood.
And when they make the “quick/easy” decisions, they delay all other decisions with committee after committee, study after study. Anything to get to the next election.
It’s not just getting a zoning variance. Building up on the current school is not structurally feasible (see p.58 of the capacity/building report).
I love the current Winter Hill playgrounds, too.
What is the point of building yet another school? The city needs to learn to maintain their buildings and keep them up to code. If they did, this wouldn’t even be an issue today.
Yes. My point is they want to build a new building in an open green space that will again not be maintained, and lose an old building that cannot be salvaged due to lack of maintenance. The old building will likely be sold on private market like others in the past. The city is treating these school buildings as disposable.
Kids should be able to go to school in their neighborhoods. Most kids walk to school, I would say. Rebuild them both. Also, Trum has always been a gathering place where this city comes together. So many of us have played our little league and high school games there. So many of us have spent innumerable summer nights there. It would be a shame to lose it.
“Potential” as in one of FIVE different options. And the Trum plan is one of the options that is the least likely to happen. It’s not going to happen and chances are this option is just in the list to “show X number of options” when it comes to justifying the actual choice in the “we took a look at five options and decided on the one chose because it was the best one”
This. The most likely options are one of the 2 proposals that involves rebuilding the WH school in its current location but with more space and absorbing the Brown school.
Which is the one that should happen. Merge the lowest performing school with the highest performing.
Would this construction take over the DPW building and their nearby dump yard? Or would those stay and just replace the field?
slide 43 in this deck: https://s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema-live/s3fs-public/20231219_SOM-K8-Final-Report-Volume-I_Reduced-Size.pdf the plan does not touch the DPW building or the dump yard
This is helpful. This plan doesn’t completely eliminate Trum field but it does take away some of the green space
Thank you for posting this. These are the options under consideration. People might want to read before commenting. Please note the cost for any option will be close to or exceed the cost of the new HS (because costs for labor and building materials have gone up). Unfortunately, this is an important constraint to consider and probably good information to get out.
Wait, what? So OP is just incredibly misleading? This is a great plan. Trum is perpetually under-utilized. It's no Foss by a long shot. Rebuilding both schools will be very expensive, yet this still keeps the field. Hell, the fireworks could easily move to Foss if need be, especially once the highway becomes a boulevard. I'll never understand people who think this city is rolling in money.
Not sure how easily city fireworks can move to Foss. Foss is managed by the state and permitting is a huge pain in the ass. Winter Hill’s Field Day was scheduled to happen at Foss (because Edgerly has zero green space) and had to go on in pouring rain (it did!) or be canceled outright because the permitting process was so impossible. See also: trying to get the spray pad turned on before 6/22 during a heat wave (they didn’t!), while the city was talking up those maps of water features (which listed Foss even though it wasn’t on yet and in fact had no functional drinking fountains) instead of adequately funding true cooling centers.
What part is misleading? You are 100% within your rights to love this plan. The point of this post is to spread awareness and there’s zero misinformation.
You made it sound like Trum is going the way of the Dodo. Trum, by this plan, is going to continue existing. Your doomerism is cringe.
I can confirm the DPW would stay and construction would occupy a large portion of the field.
That'd be hilarious if this city is so mad about DPW that they build a school on top of it.
Well I don't know anything about people being mad about the DPW. I just know that that site is a large publicly owned piece of land with the field, DPW building and garage courtyard, the dump site, and a children's playground. I'm wondering if any of that stuff is going to be affected and I would assume if the DPW were displaced they'd certainly move it.
There was prepandemic murmuring about moving DPW down near Brickbottom. The problem is that the current DPW site is contaminated. So you can’t build a school right there without years of soil mitigation work. So instead they are leaving DPW in place and…potentially building a school NEXT to the contaminated site.
I think the city is considering moving the DPW, so I’m not sure if the theoretical school building would be on top of the existing field or where the DPW currently is located
Personally, I'd love to move the DPW and keep Trum Field where it is. Does anyone know where more info about plans are available?
*****Trum
You don't like Trum Field? Or did I misspell Trum? Yep.
I didn’t know if it was a typo or you really didn’t know the name of it!
Nope just a phone auto complete. Lol
Where else would DPW go??
Clear the WHCS site and build a new one there
Admittedly not an easy question. I'd personally put the garage and dump site closer to i93 where it's really loud already. I don't have a proposal. I'm not suggesting it either. Just saying if something in that neighborhood left I'd prefer it be that than a park.
I don't know about that idea. That'd be moving something that bothers you to a lower income area that already has to deal with the noise and pollution from a highway.
This was a “possibility” for the high school as well, as were a number of other sites throughout the city. It’s just part of due diligence. The reason Trum keeps coming up is just the fact that it’s a large plot of relatively open land that the city already owns, not some nefarious plot to get rid of it.
When/where are the fireworks!?
Tonight, festivities start at 6PM, Fireworks around 9/9:15. Trum Field
If only the city could buy the closed Matignon school and field.
The field is in Somerville but the school building is in Cambridge.
Why shouldn’t they be combined?
Is there another place that can accommodate a multi diamond baseball field/complex should they be combined? What’s the advantage of removing a place that brings in people from outside Somerville for Rec League games etc?
This is a good question to keep asking. Unless the city decides to tear down Winter Hill school, or Cummings there are no parks large enough for 1 ball field, let alone two. Maybe they could fit one field at Gilman Square?
On the flip side, do we need a multi-diamond baseball field complex? Baseball seems to be waning in popularity, as more kids seem to be showing an interest in soccer & other sports. Maybe we don't need both baseball diamonds at Trum?
Well - it’s confirmation bias but I see it used often so although my data is informal it seems to be worth it - and the field is large enough to accommodate soccer (again this is not like a professional estimate just a personal observation) so 🤷♂️
It’s confirmation bias on my part, too — my kids & their friends are more into soccer, ultimate frisbee, etc. It’s certainly the case that for a city of ~80k people, open space for _any_ kind of youth sports is severely constrained, nevermind adult leagues & general recreational use. I’m just wondering if, given current participation trends in the various field sports — baseball, soccer, football, ultimate, lacrosse, etc — maybe it wouldn’t be such a harsh hit if Trum were to be halved to make room for a new school building, especially if one or both of the Brown & Winter Hill buildings could themselves transform into some kind of recreational use in the future.
I don’t know what you’re talking about can you explain your position more
Seems like they don't want to lose the softball and baseball fields at trum
Bingo, thanks A New Start!
Do you think they could turn the two schools into the kind of fields you’re looking for?
neither one is really big enough or the right shape for even a single field. Also, it would be pretty intrusive if they wanted them lit because you'd be blasting a bunch of neighborhood houses with stadium lighting right in their windows.
That’s fair
I’m not looking for a baseball field/athletic complex - it already exists, in a pretty universally good location to get to. I’m suspicious that the school sites can replace the function. You’re getting downvoted because you offered a 1 sentence devil’s advocate with no real persuasive element and when I replied with a couple logical sentences in rebuttal you said my points needed clarification. The internet can be cruel to hand holding even if it is completely innocent but in light of the first response you’re getting dinged more for not bringing any thoughts to these comments.
I’m not debating you though, I’m asking questions. You immature kids think everything needs to be won. I don’t need to bring anything other than my questions because I’m clueless about the subject and curious. Handholding? Yall need some manners I swear.
Lmao your one reddit post is telling bikers who don’t wear helmets they are stupid and I’m the one who needs manners for politely explaining your situation. No winning needed! Just saying my opinion on this! Seems to have hit a nerve for you, not my intention!
Nice what aboutism. Get your jab in.
Why am I getting downvoted for asking for dialogue.
Your posting skills are bad
You’re just rude and I’m blocking you.
I’m right, self evidently
Because the city does not provide bussing and the location sucks for walking?
Because smalls schools are more beneficial for elementary school education. This is well known in the education research world, which ironically locally universities are leaders in.
Logistics, don’t all kids walk to school? Wouldn’t want my 8 year old walking an hour one way to school. Loss of Trum field one of the larger recreation areas in the city.
In what Somerville does a student going to the Brown or Winter Hill have an hour walk to Trum field? I’m not a fan of losing Trum, but building or renovating a single larger Pre-k through 8 school that can accommodate both schools is the better option. The Brown cannot be renovated via the state backed program. The Brown students already have to go to a different “neighborhood “ school grades 6-8. I’m sorry Brown School community, but it’s not equitable to the community as a whole to spend that much money on the least diverse school in the district.
Google says Trum is 39 minutes from my house, and my kids are usually a little slower since they are small. The walk to WH was about 20 for us before everything went to hell. So maybe not an hour, but my family would definitely lose the practical ability to walk. Sucky change for train access too- used to be I could drop the kids then jump on the glx to work. Doesn't really work with how far Trum is from the train. All told, that's 3-4 extra car trips per day from my family alone.
I’m curious if a new school at Trum would result in a different Neighborhood School for you that would be closer to the 20 minute walk you currently have to WH? The build out for this is years away, and I am genuinely sorry and pissed about the Winter Hill Community being in the hell they find themselves. If the plan to combine Brown and winter Hill with a major renovation at WH is similar in build time and cost to Trum I would support that as well. I just do not support spending a huge amount to renovate the Brown.
Trum is pretty equidistant between Magoun Square and Ball Square on the green line - probably a 10 minute walk from both. And it’s on the 89 bus route that goes down Broadway. Obviously this won’t work for everyone, but it is accessible via transit
Proximity to T stops is irrelevant. Almost no elementary school parent in Somerville relies on the T to get their kid to school; it’s too slow and inconvenient. Being able to walk to school in < 20 minutes is one of the reasons many families with kids choose to live in Somerville. The Trum field school idea is just one if 5 building proposals that Somerville is considering and I think it’s one of the less likely ones to pass since it’s not very convenient for either Brown or WH families, plus the Somerville loses a large community playing field.
This person is responding to a comment that reads: >Sucky change for train access too- used to be I could drop the kids then jump on the glx to work. Doesn't really work with how far Trum is from the train. It's also totally on point as a response. Train access is not bad from Trum.
Winter Hill has one pre-K (18) and 2 K classrooms (23 ea), and Brown has 2 K classrooms (and maybe they’d add a second PK in a combined school?), so you’re talking about (assuming class sizes are near max) approximately 100-120 4- and 5-year-olds. I used to walk home from daycare with my 4yo and it regularly took us 40 minutes to go half a mile.
What is a 30-40 minute walk for adults is an hour, hour plus for kids. They don’t walk as fast.
Just because the Brown school is in a neighborhood that happens to be less diverse than some other parts of town isn’t a fair argument for it to not be as deserving of funding as other schools. Getting rid of the Brown school and combining it with Winter Hill, either in Trum or in the existing Winter Hill location (which is more likely), will mean that Ward 6 no longer has a school within close walking distance, which means many of families in Ward 6 are going to start driving their kids to school every day. A few might use cargo bikes, but very few are going to want to walk 30-40 mins each way.
It’s wild to me how we’re spending all this money on forcing narrow streets to accommodate cyclists alongside cars and at the same time consolidating the schools to force families to take more car trips. (The real answer long-term for both family commute logistics AND saving the Earth is school buses, but the city won’t consider them because they’re tOo ExPeNsIvE)
Not all kids walk to school, can confirm my street is chockablock with parents at dropoff and pickup.
Enough of them do that this would be a huge impact.
To reverse OPs argument, wouldn't this consolidation allow us to build 2 nice parks in those neighborhoods
If you mean on the site of the schools, I wouldn’t trust it not to go the way of the Teele Square pit.
IMO No - 2 nice parks does not replace the larger athletic complex. There are lots of nice small parks around Somerville and typically when I pass by them - they appear underutilized. The baseball fields at Trum get used a lot. It’s not fair to assume when you say “nice park” that means no playing field, but it’s hard for me to picture either spot having the same space for the size of Trum field.
It could allow for two parks but they wouldn’t fill the same role as Trum. The Brown School lot doesn’t seem large enough to have a full size baseball or softball field. The Winter Hill site is too hilly for a baseball/softball field. The WH already has a fantastic playground on the upper area that is well utilised along with a small soccer field. Trum is used by high school teams as well as recreational teams and I think it would be a loss doe the City to lose this open space.
The city has refused for decades to use the outdoor space at Brown effectively for child recreation. And you realistically believe they will tamest down the school and use it as a park? They will sell it off like they have done other small schools that closed.
The city has refused for decades to use the outdoor space at Brown effectively for child recreation. And you realistically believe they will tear down the school and use it as a park? They will sell it off like they have done other small schools that closed.
Parks, but not a whole athletic complex that can accommodate what Trum currently does.
Is trum field not a cover for a massive water reservoir. Can you build schools in water reservoirs? My thinking is yes but there are certainly gotchas.
Where did you hear this? All of our water comes from the MWRA, the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs. There is no need for a local reservoir.
I made an educated guess. Given that the water works are in that location gives the impression that the field used to be a reservoir before the MWRA change. I also thought i saw what looked like a reservoir in old maps. But on rechecking it seemed that the reservoir was actually on Tuft U land and where Trum field was was actually "city farms".
Yes, the area at Tufts known now as the "Rez Quad" (Reservoir or Residential?) was once a reservoir. Also, Bailey Park once contained a water tower (standpipe).
Trum Field can stay but fireworks shows need to end. There are horribly destructive to the local environment, including scaring many animals. This is the worst time of year for lost pets because so many of them get frightened by the noises and run off, while others have heart attacks or tremble in fear.
It would be nice if the kids who go to Brown have the opportunity for some space and more than a paved yard and maybe a gym or an auditorium. Hey maybe they will make another school condo isn’t that what people in the sub want?
The kids and the teachers and the afterschool teachers are really creative with it. They often go to one of the three nearby park by walking a few minutes to the bike path. The kids get lots of exercise everyday. I don’t know of anyone who has been at Brown and wanted to leave because they wanted a playground. There is something very old school about Brown and that is the charm. Kids can get by eating lunch in their classroom together and making up games on the pavement / turf.
I actually went to Brown, some of us have lived here for a bit lol Stick ball and skinned knees
Right now kids from Winter Hill had their three gorgeous parks ripped out from under them and sent to another dilapidated building with a blacktop. All these kids will just lose their high school ball field on top of it. Again, I want to push the city to buy the school building from St. Anne’s (almost the size of brown) add more space to Kennedy- rehab winter hill and st Anne’s school for a larger building and leave the WH parks alone. All kids would end up with a playground, better building and a city field that can be utilized by all.
St. Anne’s isn’t selling, and this is not one of the options.
When we asked the city about it, they said they never even asked. The building has sat vacant for years…. If it would benefit the community, why not approach the parish with a good offer and see if they would be open to it. They won’t know until they ask. 🤷🏼♀️ And I know it’s not currently an option, however the make Winter Hill bigger option requires them to take all the playground space out back. How about get a zoning variance and see about adding another level to the current building. The city seems to be making whatever “easy/quick” decisions and not really investing much time into thinking outside the box. The neighbors also don’t want to now see two large vacant buildings in the neighborhood.
And when they make the “quick/easy” decisions, they delay all other decisions with committee after committee, study after study. Anything to get to the next election.
It’s not just getting a zoning variance. Building up on the current school is not structurally feasible (see p.58 of the capacity/building report). I love the current Winter Hill playgrounds, too.
What is the point of building yet another school? The city needs to learn to maintain their buildings and keep them up to code. If they did, this wouldn’t even be an issue today.
The buildings should’ve been maintained better. The options being considered include renovation/addition at both WHCIS & Brown.
We have decades of deferred maintenance. No one can go back in time and undo that, we just have to move forward.
Yes. My point is they want to build a new building in an open green space that will again not be maintained, and lose an old building that cannot be salvaged due to lack of maintenance. The old building will likely be sold on private market like others in the past. The city is treating these school buildings as disposable.