My View of Life on the Dock
Last day of January 2021 was a sunny one, cold enough for ponds and craggy coast puddles to freeze over.
photo caption- few scenes from Long Beach, Stage Fort Park, Buswell Pond, Fernwood Lake, Days Pond. No action at Le page
Mayor Sefatia Romeo-Theken and Gloucester’s Open Space & Recreation Committee held a forum within the community center of the Maplewood Apartments complex on Thursday November 16th. The committee is working on the next Open Space plan for the city. (The prior one covering 2011-2017 has expired.) There was a brief presentation, results to the summer survey, and continued requests for suggestions and ideas. Gathering input will help prioritize possible Open Space & Recreation goals. Along with the important and detailed feedback already gathered from outreach, additional suggestions or wishes were given ‘open space’ 🙂 and welcomed at this little meeting. A woman who works with Backyard Growers mentioned a garden of a different scale, with fruit trees and strawberry patches to walk through, engendering audible oos and ahhs and one request to add it “Right there!” Others dreamed of lights/safety at Burnham’s, Kayak storage and assistance, and drainage mitigation at Magnolia Fields. Councilor Gilman took notes on the comments, and related one idea about a dedicated camping site.
You can check out the results to the survey (litter, dogs, and topics you care about are likely all in there) on the City’s website: (link coming) The presentation will tour. Look for upcoming dates and give thanks to this hardworking committee of volunteers, staff, and partners that advocate for open space and recreation. Committee members Patti Amaral, Heidi Wakeman, and Chair John McElhenny were there along with City staff from community development and housing.
photos: arriving to the community center, well before the meeting commenced, setting up in progress
You may have been reading about Design Museum Boston‘s exhibit because there has been so much advance press and articles about play. The show opened last week at the Boston Society of Architects venue and will be on view all summer. I’m not sold on the term ‘playscapes’ but I’ll definitely see this exhibit. I’m expecting plans and ideas rather than actual playground equipment. There’s a party favor: a playground passport your kids can leave with as they head out to play for real in Boston parks.
A trending topic the show may cover is the idea of opening up all those schoolyard playgrounds for use by the community when the schools aren’t using them– at night, off days and hours. Here’s a recent article making the rounds from the Atlantic Monthly magazine and the trailer from the documentary The Land.
Swinging wildly through the stages of life: historic cemeteries, ‘gardens with graves’, are inspiring multi use discussion of a different sort. Cemeteries established in the 1800’s were rolling landscapes, beautifully designed to welcome the general public. Massachusetts’ first one:
“Mt. Auburn is more like a park than a crypt. It is 175 acres of winding paths, dignified trees, whispery breezes, and shimmering lakes. The land, called “Stone’s Wood,” used to be beloved by Harvard students as the perfect place to take respite from the bustle of 19th-century life, and the Cemetery was created in 1831 to ensure that the growing cities of Cambridge and Watertown would not envelop the forest’s beauty. The founders were successful in their efforts.” read more from this Harvard Crimson article.
In Gloucester, renewed attention for care in several cemeteries is under way. Sign up for the Oak Grove cemetery tour June 25th or July 2 to learn more about one of our own ‘Mt. Auburns by the sea’. The tours will be led by Courtney Richardson.
Good Morning Gloucester 