10 thoughts on “Town Looks to Team With Arsenal Yards Developers to Fast Track Arsenal Park Improvements

  1. Any hardtop plan should include dedicated Pickleball courts. Pickleball courts around the metro are crowded while tennis courts are idle.

  2. So no coordination of funding/upgrading for the remainder of the park? Seems a bit short sited? We could have the old tennis courts(1/2 of them) sitting there while the East furthest end is upgraded? Does Watertown have the funding to finish off the left side of the design(planting areas/tennis&pickeball/basketball/…)? Can the town change things down the road, ie: there are no stipulations on changes tied to the donation to that portion of the park? The devil’s in the details, can we get the agreement public so that we can all understand the constraints and caveats? Can be a good thing though depending on the ‘deal’. Will there be a very needed green buffer between the hard-line buildings of the Arsenal and the park? The drawing doesn’t show any and a green buffer(trees/shrubs) should soften the lines/noise.

    • Wait the blue prints do show trees which is good along the building sides. That and nice shrubs or flowers would be great to soften the hardline to the park.

  3. I hope there isn’t going to be any of catch or condition to this plan.
    IIRC, at one of the community meetings or previous plans submitted by
    Boylston Properties, they would contribute to the costs of renovating the park,
    but they also wanted a portion set aside for the exclusive use by the
    biotech/office employees.

  4. There is no portion of the Arsenal Park set aside for the exclusive use of the biotech/office employees. The park will continue to be open to everyone.

  5. There may not be any portion of the park currently “set aside for the exclusive use of the biotech/office employees”, but that doesn’t mean that the developer didn’t ask for it and it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen in the future.

    • Arsenal Park is under the care and custody of the Conservation Commission. The developer has never asked for exclusive used the park. The Con Com would never allow for that nor would the residents of this town. Folks from Brighton and Allston come to use the park and new residents and employees at Arsenal Yards likely will also enjoy the park.

  6. I hope the town planning/building department doesn’t allow the developer to do anything they want like everywhere else in town. Seriously, they’ve allowed Watertown to be ruined with no oversight, quality of buildings, etc.

  7. Does anyone know the reason why Boylston Properties rescinded its original offer of $500,000 towards Arsenal Park improvements? What will the contribution be through this partnership? It’s unfortunate that this was not negotiated at the time the $500,000 offer was made, more than 2 years ago.

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