Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/393/)
Check out the open houses around town this weekend. $749,000 – 261 Orchard St., Single Family – Detached Cape, 1,960 Living Area Sq. Ft., 6 Room, 3 Bedroom, 2 Full & 1 Half Bathroom, Open House: Sunday 2-3:30
$419,000 – 18 Hunt St. Unit 1, Condo, 717 Living Area Sq. Ft., 3 Room, 1 Bedroom, 1 Full Bathroom, Open Houses: Saturday 10:30-12 Sunday 10:30-12
$394,900 – 2 Townly Road Unit 6, Condo – 2/3 Family, 700 Living Area Sq.
Temporary outdoor seating will be allowed for Watertown restaurants as part of the COVID-19 reopening, with certain regulations including keeping seating at least six feet apart. As a way to allow Watertown restaurants to offer more seating as the reopen during COVID-19, the Town Manager announced that owners and managers can apply for temporary outdoor seating. Town Manager Michael Driscoll sent out the application on Thursday afternoon. The tables must remain at least six feet apart when diners are seated, and the take out area must be at least six feet from where seats are located. A five-foot path must be maintained on the sidewalk outside the restaurant to make them ADA handicap accessible.
Watertown residents can now grab their favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors at the Scoop Shop at Arsenal Yards. You win some and you lose some — in this case Watertown food options. Arsenal Yards welcomed Ben & Jerry’s this week, in a small building of its own near the City Works Eatery & Pour House and The Majestic 7 movie theater. For now, the “Scoop Shop” is only open for take out and delivery due to COVID-19 restrictions
Farther down Arsenal Street, Miller’s Ale House has closed. The Watertown location, which opened in early 2012, no longer appears on the list of restaurants on the Miller’s Ale House website, and Katie Sullivan, Marketing Director for the developers of Arsenal Yards — Boylston Properties, confirmed that Miller’s has shut its doors.
The latest rendering of the new Cunniff Elementary School, with the solar array in the parking lot. The Town Council, Watertown School officials, designers and green energy advocates celebrated the completion of what looked like a pipe dream just a few years ago: building two schools that will create enough electricity to cover their energy needs, and pay for it without raising property taxes. Architect Scott Dunlap from Ai3 congratulated the Town for building the first Net Zero school in Massachusetts. The schools will also make other history. “They will be the first Net Zero elementary schools in New England,” Dunlap said.
The start of the Watertown Farmers Market is around the corner and shoppers have some new options to choose from this year, which will be offering baked goods, bagels, produce, tahini and more. The first farmers market will take place on Wednesday, June 17, from 2:30-6:30 p.m. in Saltonstall Park, at the corner of Main Street and Whites Avenue, next to Town Hall (149 Main St.). The Market will run rough Oct. 14, and — to begin with, at least — will operate with social distancing measures (see farther below). The managers of the Farmers Market sent out the following statement”
The start of the season has been challenging for many small farms and businesses from loss of staff and the need to make changes to business operations with new safety precautions in place.
Protesters at the Vigil for Black Lives in Watertown Square on Tuesday hold signs and wave at passing cars. A few hundred people came out. For the second week in a row, hundreds showed up in Watertown Square to remember George Floyd and protest against racial inequity. Tuesday’s event included a march to the Square, and also chalk drawings which became the focus of some disagreements. Also Tuesday, Town Council President Mark Sideris read a statement during the Town Council meeting supporting the protest, but adding that he did not support efforts to defund or cut funding to the Watertown Police Department.
A shot from the Watertown High School Orchestra’s video from the Virtual MusicFest 2020 website. The organizers of the annual Watertown MusicFest were not going to let COVID-19 stand in the way of putting on their 2020 event. They put together a virtual musical jamboree featuring more than 100 performances by Watertown students and others from the community. The event was created by the Friends of Watertown Music, a group of volunteer parents and friends of the music program that formed in 2011 to support and advocate for the music program in the Watertown Public Schools. The organizers wrote the following introduction for the Watertown Music Fest website (Click here to go to the website):
“Corona may be keeping us apart but it isn’t keeping us silent.
Watertown Free Public Library
The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Free Public Library:
Beginning Monday, June 15 the library will offer additional evening curbside pickup hours. The new pickup schedule is: Monday 1 pm – 4 pm, Tuesday 4 pm – 7 pm *New Hours*, Wednesday 11 am – 2pm, Thursday 4 pm – 7 pm *New Hours*, Friday 9 am – 12 pm
Placing Orders: Call 857-203-8009 to place orders. Calls can be made Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm. A library employee will take orders for up to 5 items that are currently available in the library catalog. Anyone that does not have internet access may call for personal assistance with choosing materials.