Around Town

LETTER: Former Town Councilor Urges Support of Town/BB&N Fields Agreement

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A drawing of the proposed playing fields that BB&N School wants to build on Grove Street. The land currently belongs to Mount Auburn Cemetery. Dear friends and neighbors,

As many of you may have heard, the Mount Auburn Cemetery’s property on Grove Street is up for sale. Just next door to Filippello Park, the site is currently being leased by the Mount Auburn Hospital for employee parking. Most bidders on the lot are looking to build lab/office or residential space there. This means more cars on Grove Street and no chance at expanding our open and green space in Watertown. There’s also a historic home on the site called the Shick House which isn’t likely to be saved under that scenario. The Shick family once operated a dairy farm from that house in the mid 1900’s. The Trustees of the cemetery have a fiduciary responsibility to be responsible stewards of the cemetery’s assets for the long-term and have chosen to liquidate the asset. They’re going to make the responsible choice for their institution and one can hardly blame them.

Around Town

LETTER: East End Councilor Calls Town’s Partnership with BB&N “Win-Win”

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A drawing of the proposed playing fields that BB&N School wants to build on Grove Street. The land currently belongs to Mount Auburn Cemetery. Hello East Enders,

Interesting possibilities are on the horizon…………. The private, Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School (BB&N) has shown an interest in purchasing the Mount Auburn Cemetery property at 165-183 Grove St. in our East End of Watertown.

BB&N

Town, BB&N School Seek Fields Partnership, Must Get Land from Cemetery, First

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A drawing of the proposed playing fields that BB&N School wants to build on Grove Street. The land currently belongs to Mount Auburn Cemetery. Officials from the Town of Watertown and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School enthusiastically touted a proposed public-private partnership involving playing fields in East Watertown, Tuesday night. There is one major hurdle, however — the land is owned by the Mount Auburn Cemetery. At the Town Council meeting, BB&N Head of School Jennifer Price outlined the proposed partnership involving a new playing field complex the private independent school would like to build on Grove Street in exchange for the school having access to fields at Town-owned Filippello Park.

Around Town

Renovation of Mt. Auburn Cemetery’s Chapel Completed

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Renovation of Mount Auburn Cemetery’s Bigelow Chapel was recently completed. The following information was provided by Shawmut Design and Construction:

Shawmut Design and Construction, a leading $1.4 billion national construction management firm, announced its completion of a $15 million renovation of Mount Auburn’s Bigelow Chapel. The National Historic Landmark, located in Watertown reopened in December 2018 following enhancements to the 19th century building. Shawmut, together with William Rawn Associates and CSL, worked to enhance and preserve Bigelow Chapel’s façade and interior, which was originally constructed in 1845 out of Quincy granite. The team installed a new, floor-to-ceiling glass addition that complements the original Gothic Revival design by Dr. Jacob Bigelow and connects visitors within the space to the beautiful and meditative landscape outside.

Around Town

Mount Auburn Cemetery Selling Land in Watertown

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Mount Auburn Cemetery. Mount Auburn Cemetery is seeking a buyer for several acres of land in Watertown which it owns. According to a Boston Globe article, the historic cemetery located in Watertown and Cambridge plans to sell six acres of land. See the story here. The land, located on Grove Street, currently has a parking lot and used to be a cement plant.

Entertainment

Mount Auburn Cemetery Will Debut Nature Plays in June

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Mount Auburn Cemetery provided the following information:

Announcing the world premiere of the“The Nature Plays”, the first series of site-specific short plays by Mount Auburn Cemetery’s Playwright Artist-in-Residence, Patrick Gabridge. 

“The Nature Plays” run from June 1-9, 2019 at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA. These five short plays highlight stories inspired by the rich natural environment of Mount Auburn with topics such as spotted salamanders in Consecration Dell, birders at Auburn Lake, and historic debates between naturalists who are buried at the Cemetery. Through comedy and drama “The Nature Plays”explore topics both current and whimsical from global warming to the secret world of mushroom hunting. Audiences will experience the performances at various spots across the grounds, surrounded by the sights and sounds of the natural world.

Entertainment

Free Playwriting Workshop with Mount Auburn Cemetery’s Artist in Residence

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The following announcement was provided by Mount Auburn Cemetery:

Mount Auburn Cemetery presents Playwriting for a Cemetery. A Free Lunchtime Event Featuring Playwright Patrick Gabridge, Artist-In Residence. FREE EVENT – Thursday, Sept. 6, 12:00 pm

WHAT: Patrick Gabridge, Artist-in-Residence at Mount Auburn Cemetery, will offer a free lunchtime talk in Mount Auburn’s Story Chapel (580 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA 02138) to discuss his process for researching and writing plays with a special focus on the unique challenges and opportunities of site-specific plays written for outdoor spaces. He will share his current sources of inspiration at Mount Auburn as he works on a series of short plays to debut in 2019. Playwright Patrick Gabridge is an award-winning writer of historical and contemporary stage plays, novels, audio plays, and screenplays.