Government

Residents Weigh in on Enhancements, Improvements to Arsenal Park

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In preparation to renovate Arsenal Park town officials are collecting ideas from the public for enhancements and additions to the park located off Arsenal Street, behind the Arsenal Mall. 

On Tuesday night, the Community Development and Planning Department hosted a Community Meeting at the Watertown Library where residents broke into groups to brainstorm ideas. Arsenal Park, at 13.2 acres, is the second biggest park in town, after Filippello Park. It features numerous activities and features, including playing fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, a tot lot, a skate park, community garden plots, gazebos, grills, a spray deck, a bocce court and an amphitheater. Residents brought up a number of ideas for improvements including better access to the site. Arsenal Park can be hard to find, and the only auto entrance is through the Arsenal Mall parking lot.

Arsenal Park

Town Officials Want to Hear from Public About Changes to Arsenal Park

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Planning for redesigning Arsenal Park has begun, and Watertown officials want to hear from the public about how they think the park should be improved. The first Arsenal Park Design Community meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Watertown Library (123 Main St.) in the Watertown Savings Bank Room. The park sits next to the Arsenal Yards, the former Arsenal Mall, which is undergoing renovations and expansion. While redesigning of the park Town officials are looking at how the park fits with the new mixed use project which will have apartments and a hotel along with the shops and restaurants. Arsenal Park currently includes a grass field sometimes used for softball and soccer, tennis courts, basketball courts, a skate park, grill and picnic tables and a gazebo, among other features.

Government

Discussions for Renovation of Arsenal Park to Start Soon, See One Possible Addition

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With all the changes coming to the Arsenal Mall, the park next door will also see some changes. Town officials will soon begin discussing how to renovate Arsenal Mall, and the changes could include the relocation of a small piece of the historic Arsenal. During a community meeting about the second phase of the Arsenal Yards project Watertown Senior Planner Gideon Schreiber said that discussions about the park will begin soon. “On June 21 there will be a meeting with an internal (town) group and abutters to discuss the process,” Schreiber said. Following that meeting, there will be public meetings to discuss changes to the park.

Arsenal Park

Lights at Watertown’s Fields and Parks a Priority for Rec Department

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With field space difficult to find in Watertown, Recreation Director Peter Centola told the Town Council Thursday that lighting at fields is one of the main priorities for his Fiscal 2018 budget. 

Some fields would get new lights, while others would get the ones already there in better working shape, Centola said. Finding practice and game time has become a problem for Watetown youth sports groups, so lights would enable the fields to be used longer. Centola noted that discussion about Phase II of the Victory Field renovation is about to start, but is not in his budget for Fiscal 2018. Updating the electrical boxes at Casey Park’s baseball field, Filippello Park and Saltonstall Park are key projects, Centola said. The three are part of one project.

Government

Debate Continues on Whether to Put up Temporary Lights at Arsenal Park

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Town Councilors were not ready to approve having temporary lights at Arsenal Park to help the Watertown Youth Soccer program deal with its growing number of players. 

On Tuesday night, the Town Council discussed putting the lights at the park, but the majority felt that there are too many questions remaining to give approval. Watertown Youth Soccer has 669 players, from 600 families, in the program, said President Mark Leonard. That number is up from 400 players three years ago, and the program does not have enough field space for all the teams, Leonard said. After discussing where temporary lights could go in town, the Human Services subcommittee looked at Arsenal Park as the best place, Councilor Aaron Dushku, a member of the Human Services subcommittee said. While the lights would be for the soccer program, other youth sports would benefit because it would free up other fields, he added.

Arsenal Park

Subcommittee Wants to Look at Putting Temporary Lights at Park

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With a growing youth sports program and limited field space in Watertown, a Council subcommittee recommended allowing temporary lights at a town park. The Human Services subcommittee voted to support having temporary lights at Arsenal Park, said Councilor Aaron Dushku, vice chairman of the subcommittee. “The council will listen to the report, ask questions and make a vote when we next reconvene as a whole,” Dushku said. “Naturally, this will be a recommendation to the administration that they work out the finer details of the process -some of which were discussed.” The subcommittee meeting was well attended, with a large contingent of residents who live near Victory Field.

Arsenal Mall Renovation

Changes to Arsenal Park Could Result from Renovation of Arsenal Mall

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Boylston Properties Principal Bill McQuillan had an urgent message for residents and town officials Wednesday night. If they want to improve Arsenal Park, now is the time to start figuring out how. 

“We knew this was going to come up,” McQuillan said “It’s August 17, we need that park figured out, because we’re not going to do this plan without that park, or without that park we’re going to do a different plan.”

Arsenal Project developers held their fourth community meeting, at the Innovation Space at the Arsenal Mall Wednesday, where they updated residents and town officials on the project’s design direction and presented their latest building and site renderings. The presentation included preliminary plans to create pathways through the park that would connect directly to the property. Arsenal Park is run and maintained by the Conservation Commission, which would have to approve any proposed changes. Though the upgrades to the park were included in the presentation, Design Architect Christopher Jones said there’s still a lot of work to be done with the town and community.

Around Town

New Community Gardens Going in at Arsenal Park, Help Needed to Build Beds

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Watertown Community Gardens will be opening some new plots at Arsenal Park, but before gardeners can start planting the planters must be built.

The former street hockey area at Arsenal Park will be the location for the new garden plots, said Terese Hammerle, chair of the board of Watertown Community Gardens. “Between the tennis courts and the basketball courts, we will build raised beds on the solid surface,” Hammerle said. A work day will be held on July 23 (with a rain date of July 24). Volunteers are needed to build the planters, Hammerle said. Once completed, there will be around 50 new plots for Watertown residents to farm.