Around Town

Watertown High Grad Plays on NCAA Title Winning Soccer Team

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Watertown’s Julio Fulcar finished up his college soccer career at Syracuse with a win in the National Championship game

When the Syracuse University men’s soccer team lifted the championship trophy in December, one of players celebrating was Watertown’s own Julio Fulcar. The Watertown High School graduate played for the Orange for five years, including this year as a graduate student. This season, Syracuse won the soccer National Championship for the first time in school history, finishing 19-2-4, and won the ACC regular season division, and the ACC tournament. Watertown News caught up with Fulcar, who said that being able to achieve the team’s ultimate goal was a very special experience. “It is difficult to describe the feelings one feels when they know they are a part of a real team but it is an unforgettable feeling, one I have been fortunate enough to feel twice now; the high school basketball team from 2018 echoes many of the same sentiments I had this past fall at Syracuse,” Fulcar said. 

Syracuse AthleticsWatertown’s Julio Fulcar kicks the ball in a game against Louisville.

Sports

4 Watertown Athletes Garner Boston Globe All-Scholastic Honors

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown senior co-captain Maggie Driscoll shoots the ball in the 2022 State Final. Driscoll was named the Div. 3 Player of the Year by the Boston Globe. The Fall season had many highlights for Watertown High School teams — including a state championship and a rivalry victory at Fenway Park. For their role in the successful season, four Raiders received All-Scholastic honors from the Boston Globe.

Entertainment

Registration Open for Summer Classes at the Mosesian Center for the Arts

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Sarah WintersChildren in the 2022 Summer Stages & Studios program at Mosesian Arts enjoyed coloring by the light of the large arch windows. The following announcement was provided by the Mosesian Center for the Arts:

It may be January, but Mosesian Center for the Arts is ready for summer!  

Enrollment opens on January 17 for Summer Stages & Studios for children and teens in grades K-12. Summer arts education programming at Mosesian Arts fosters an engaging, welcoming, and creative community where students can explore new art forms, focus on specific interests, learn from professional teaching artists, and make connections with other participants in a variety of weekly programs grouped by age and arts discipline.  

Mosesian Arts offers a process-based approach to exploring the arts that guides students towards developing both art skills and techniques as well as life skills such as collaboration, creativity, and empathy. The staff are committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming space for people of all abilities, ethnicities, economic status, sexual orientations, and gender identity. 

A catalog of summer programming is available online at www.mosesianarts.org/education/info. Questions may be directed to education@mosesianarts.org. 

In other arts education programming, winter classes in performing and visual arts for all ages are just beginning.

Government

Watertown One of First Communities to Adopt Energy Efficient Construction Requirement

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With the City Council’s adoption of the state’s Specialized Stretch Code, Watertown became one of the first communities to adopt the code and continued efforts to make buildings in the community energy efficient. The Council had already adopted the Massachusetts Stretch Code, but communities have to separately adopt the Specialized Stretch Code, which calls for net-zero energy buildings by 2050. The code applies only to new construction. Adopting the Specialized Stretch Code is another step in the direction that the City has been heading toward energy efficiency, Council President Mark Sideris said before the Council’s unanimous vote. “I think this is consistent with what this City Council has been doing, from solar arrays on roofs and hybrid vehicles in our fleet when possible and net zero schools,” Sideris said.

Around Town

Watertown Facilities Closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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Charlie BreitroseA closeup of the section of the Kingian Nonviolence Mural featuring Martin Luther King. In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Watertown municipal facilities will be closed, and trash and recycling will be impacted. The City of Watertown announced that City Hall and the Senior Center are closed on Monday, January 16, 2023 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday. Also, the Watertown Free Public Library’s list of holiday closures includes Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Trash and recycling collection will be delayed by a day the week of Jan.

Government

City Will Discuss MBTA’s Multi-Family Zone as Part of Watertown Square Improvements

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Watertown City Hall

Discussions about how Watertown will meet the state’s requirement to allow multi-family housing in certain areas of town will be included in the City’s planning for improving Watertown Square. Discussions about the Square will begin later this year. On Tuesday night, The City Council heard an update on the multi-family zoning, which requires communities served by the MTBA to create an area where multi-family housing would be allowed by-right, and therefore would not need special approval from the Planning or Zoning boards if they fall within the city’s zoning requirements. When the state first released the requirements, they called for Watertown’s multi-family zone to be near the Waverley Commuter Rail station in Belmont. The Council objected, however, because the area would be in the middle of a section of town zoned for single-family homes.

Government

Council Approves Millions for Easements for Mt. Auburn St. Project, State Still Has Not Released Comments on Plans

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The $30 million Mt. Auburn Street reconstruction project will likely go out to bid at the end of 2023, and the 75 percent plans will soon be submitted. City officials, however, are still waiting for the state to release the public comments from the 25 percent designs submitted back in 2018. The project will be paid for by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) using federal transportation funding, but the design occurs at the local level, said Watertown Public Works Superintendent Greg St. Louis.