Revitalized Whittemore Park To Reopen Monday With Celebration

Arlington MA

23 October, 2021

11:42 AM

Description

Your Arlington Last Updated: 21 October 2021 Written by Ali Carter The town plans to reopen the revamped Whittemore Park with a celebration of the completion of phase 1 set for Monday, Oct. 25 at 9:30 a.m. (Rain date Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 3 p.m.). The event will feature remarks from Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine, Eric Helmuth of the Select Board, Clarissa Rowe of the Community Preservation Act Committee and Heather Leavell and Beth Locke, directors of the Dallin Museum and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, respectively. A brief, optional tour featuring an overview of the site redesign and improvements will follow. Design documents identifying work to be completed in Phase 2, scheduled to begin construction in the spring of 2022, will be available for review. Refreshments will be provided by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, and members of the public are welcome to attend. Refreshment will be provided by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, whose headquarters are in the Jefferson Cutter House, which in the rear of the park and also houses the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. Please RSVP to Ali Carter, town economic-development cootdinator, at Ali Carter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Background Here is background about the project, based on a YourArlington report from last June. Construction for the first phase of the project aimed at revitalizing Whittemore Park began Monday, June 14, Emily Sullivan, environmental planner and conservation agent, confirmed June 15. The town has hired general contractor, JAM Corp. of Worcester, to renovate the open space at Mass. Ave. and Mystic Street into a focal point for recreation and civic functions, as well as a place to appreciate Arlington's cultural heritage. Construction is anticipated to be complete in August. Phase 1 includes renovations of the part of the park in front of the Jefferson Cutter House. That includes creating a circuit path, removing trees, planting anew, landscaping, renovating the rail corridor and improving the central lawn. Phase 2, now in design, will address accessibility improvements to the path between Mystic Street and the Jefferson Cutter House. The existing side garden will be removed and replaced by a new garden, including a new granite retaining wall and wooden board fence. Construction is anticipated to begin this fall. The town hired Crowley Cottrell of Boston to develop recommendations and design plans for the park. Through separate procurement processes, the firm was selected to develop construction documents and administer construction on phases 1 and 2. The firm is a certified women-owned enterprise. It is also LEED AP. The firm's practitioners bring decades of design and construction experience on parks and historic properties to Arlington.JAM Corp. was hired to complete the construction of Phase 1 through a competitive bid process. The firm specializes in landscape and commercial construction, and has extensive experience working with municipalities in Massachusetts.The Whittemore Park Revitalization Project is being guided by town planning with input from a working group composed of representatives from the Historical Commission, Historic Districts Commission, Dallin Museum, Chamber of Commerce, Cutter Gallery and property and business owners in Arlington Center. The Whittemore Park Revitalization Project planning process began in 2017 and concluded in August 2018, which resulted in a design aimed at leading to a transformation of the small green space in the Center into a focal point for recreation and civic functions. Phase 1 is funded through Community Preservation Act funds and the town. Phase 2 will be funded through the town and Community Development Block GrantsFor more information about the Whittemore Park Project, visit the Whittemore Park Project Page. YourArlington.com has provided news and opinion about Arlington, Mass., since 2006. Publisher Bob Sprague is a former editor at The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Arlington Advocate. Read more at https://www.yourarlington.com/about.