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| The Newsletter of the High Street Hill Association | April 2008 |
Please Join Us for Your Neighborhood Association's
Annual Meeting, Potluck Dinner,
and 50th Anniversary Celebration Kickoff
Monday, May 5
Latvian Lutheran Church
58 Irving Street
6 pm Family Potluck Dinner
and 50th Anniversary Cake
7 pm HSHA Business Meeting
Followed by "50 Years on Our Hill" discussion and stories about
our neighborhood and its association as told by HSHA alumni.
Those with last names beginning with
A-I please bring a salad, J-R a main dish, and S-Z a dessert.
Fifty years after its founding in 1958 the HSHA is still going strong. And to celebrate our first half century we have scheduled a series of commemorative events.
After our short (we promise) business meeting we will get to the fun portion of the evening: an informal discussion covering the highlights of our neighborhood on High Street Hill. We've called on HSHA alumni to share their memories of the 1958 Redevelopment Project that threatened our borders, the creation of the National Register District and the Local Historic District, the reclamation of Leverett Pond and Olmsted Park and the drive to build Lincoln School. For those that were there we hope that you'll join in; for those that weren't it's time to learn why Pill Hill is so special. Please contact Betsy Shure Gross at 617-731-1448 or if you'd like to participate.
Every year during the business meeting portion of our Annual Meeting we present a report to the membership highlighting our activities from the previous year. This year, however, the main order of business will be approval of a revised set of HSHA bylaws. The HSHA board felt that the original bylaws from 1958 were outdated and, with the help of longtime resident and attorney Sandy Gadsby, we have developed an improved version that better describes our purpose, defines our procedures and clarifies our tax status, as well as indemnifies our board members. Please take the opportunity to review the proposed bylaws before the meeting. They will be posted on our website along with the original version. If you have any questions or would like to receive a paper copy please call Rob Daves at 617-285-1113.
At our Annual Picnic on Philbrick Square on June 15, in addition to pony rides, the Brookline Community Band will perform and we'll dedicate a refurbished set of park benches. The current benches have seen better days but, with a bit of effort, they can be revitalized. On the morning of the picnic we plan to gather a group of neighbors to help reassemble the benches' restored frames with new slats, bolts and a brass plaque to commemorate the 50th year of the HSHA. Stay tuned to the next Highlight for more details.
We left the best event for last. On October 4, renowned storyteller Jay O'Callahan, will perform his famous Pill Hill stories in a special performance at Lincoln School. His stories are based on real people that he encountered growing up at 112 High Street and we are thrilled that he is able to join our celebration. It seems especially fitting since Jay's father, Edward, was the first President of the HSHA in 1958.
We currently are forming a Host Committee to help underwrite the cost of this event. We will be seeking sponsorships at $100 which will include two tickets to the performance and admission to a special reception with Jay O'Callahan. If sufficient funds are raised we plan to establish a maintenance and management endowment for Olmsted Park. Stay Tuned.
Over the next few months we will provide more information in the Highlight and on our website as details become available. Also, be on the lookout for our very wonderful 50th Anniversary poster which will be displayed in the town kiosks. Designed by neighbor Susan Scott, it includes photos of the neighborhood taken by her husband Robert Kaufman. We'd like to sincerely thank them for their generous gift of time.
Saturday April 26, 10 am - 1 pm.
Meet at the Allerton Street Overlook on Pond Avenue.
Focus: Pruning, raking and mulching.
At 9 am Hugh Mattison will lead a walking tour of the Muddy River.
Thursdays May 1 and 8, 5:30 - 8 pm.
Meet at the Chestnut Street parking lot.
Focus: Removal of knotweed and invasive species.
Saturday May 17, 10 am - 1 pm.
Meet at the Leverett Pond Bridge at Route 9.
Focus: Pruning, raking and seeding.
In recent years, the Town of Brookline has overseen the implementation of the Emerald Necklace Masterplan for the restoration of Olmsted Park. Paths have been built, trees have been planted and beds of shrubbery have been replaced according to Olmsted's design intent. The next challenge, however, is to maintain this wonderful resource and multimillion dollar investment.
But as has been demonstrated time and again with similar projects across the country, public funds alone can't sustain local parks. And so, what some are calling a "new model of stewardship" involving private funding and local volunteers is being developed to collectively support our parks. At Olmsted Park, the Parks Department currently maintains the grounds with a mix of its own landscape staff, subcontractors and Department of Correction crews but their efforts and Town funding are not enough to keep the park in optimum condition.
So last year the HSHA's Friends of Leverett Pond collaborated with the Brookline GreenSpace Alliance and Town Parks and Open Space Director Erin Chute Gallentine (who, incidentally, is now on the Board of the National Association of Olmsted Parks in Washington, DC.) to develop a neighborhood volunteer program to help fill the gap. Over 50 volunteers came out on Saturdays and Thursday evenings in the spring and fall to help. Our initial but modest success has made this program a model for other parks in Brookline.
On next Saturday, which also happens to be Frederick Law Olmsted's birthday, we will need your help again. Tools will be provided and Town Parks Department staff will be on hand to guide our efforts. Prior to the start of the cleanup at 10 am, neighbor Hugh Mattison, who serves as the Administrator for the Muddy River Restoration Project Maintenance and Management Oversight Committee (MMOC) will lead a walking tour of the Muddy River.
All new volunteers will get a special T-shirt.
The front of the shirt is printed with a "Friends of Leverett Pond" logo
created in 1978 by local artist Colleen for the original Olmsted Park
activist group. The back of the shirt was recently designed by neighbor
graphic artist Susan Scott specifically for this program.
Brookline GreenSpace Alliance would like to invite our neighborhood to its annual fundraising event, Growing GreenSpace. On Sunday June 22, at a garden party in the historic Pill Hill home and unique garden of Jay Veevers, Growing GreenSpace will celebrate 20 years of highlighting the needs of our open spaces and bettering our town by honoring the green space legacy that defines Brookline. Funds raised from this garden party event will help support environmental education, outreach and advocacy in Brookline. Tickets are $75; RSVP by May 26th as space is limited. Contact event Co-chairs Jay Veevers or Betsy Shure Gross at 617-731-1448 for more information.
BGSA Field Trip: Riverway Park Walk to Celebrate Olmsted's Birthday
Saturday, April 26th, 9:00 - 10:30 am.
Meet at the parking lot outside Brook House in Olmsted Park.
Join Brookline GreenSpace Alliance for
a 3-mile walking tour along the Muddy River. We will walk through Riverway Park to
the Landmark Center and return. Topics covered will be history, landscape architecture, and
the Muddy River Restoration Project which is scheduled
to start construction next spring. For more information, call 617-277-4777 or
email .
Sounds and Scenes Family Festival at Olmsted Park
A Celebration of Music and Landscape in the Emerald Necklace
Saturday, June 7,10 am - 1 pm Free
Presented by Brookline Adult and Community Education
and Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
and the HSHA. For more info call: 617-730-2700 or
www.brooklineadulted.org.
Thanks to graphic designer Kristin Leader for her generous donation of time to design
the Sounds and Scenes flyer (pdf).
Thanks also to Tim and Alida Hanson for matching HSHA's $200 donation in support of this event.
High Street Hill Annual Picnic
Sunday, June 15, 4 pm until dark at Philbrick Square.
Join the neighborhood for pony rides, a concert by the Brookline Community Band and
dedication of restored park benches.
Captain John O'Leary from the Community Service Division of the Brookline Police Department informs us that there have lately been a rash of vehicle breakins in our neighborhood. In all cases the cars were left unlocked and, aside for one GPS unit, the culprit stole loose change. Police have collected fingerprints and Captain O'Leary says that our area will receive special attention including patrols in unmarked cars. For more info see the Police Department online blog.
Leggat McCall Properties is proposing a 4-story medical office building with 260 parking spaces, most of which would be below grade. There would be about 65,000 sf of usable space with some retail on the street floor. The building would be almost 300 feet long and as much as 58 feet above Route 9, or 70 feet above the T tracks and White Place. A Design Advisory Team, appointed by the Planning Board, is working with White Place residents to improve the design and reduce its impacts. They are especially concerned that the new building would shadow their houses during the winter. A related warrant article for Town Meeting has been filed that would make it harder to get height bonuses such as the one sought for this proposal. For more information, call Polly Selkoe at the Planning Dept, 617-730-2126. Karl Neubauer () of Leggat McCall also has information on the proposal.
After a 9 week hiatus, the Design Advisory Team has met a third time to review Children's Hospital's proposed designs for a 125-foot medical/administrative office building on the site of 2-4 Brookline Place. After hearing from the DAT that the building's massing and patient drop-off areas were unacceptable, the developer has returned with a more satisfactory building exterior and eliminated the drop-off area in the pedestrian plaza. The latest discussions at not only the DAT but also at recent Selectmen and Planning Board meetings have focused on Precinct 5 Town Meeting Member Hugh Mattison's warrant article to require a reduction in the number of the development's 624 parking spaces, which is four times more than would be required in the Longwood Medical area. Some, including members of the Economic Development Advisory Board, feel that the site which was originally zoned for a lab building with 420 parking spaces and is considered to be in a prime mass transit oriented location would attract more congestion to our area. The next DAT meeting will be held at 7 pm May 7 at the Police Sation. Meetings are open to all. Call DAT rep Rob Daves for more info, 617-566-7334.
A San Francisco family of four is looking to rent (or purchase) a home in Pill Hill for at least a year beginning August 1st. Please call Lynn at 415-824-5049 or email .
The Highlight is printed several times a year and is distributed on foot or by bicycle by HSHA Board members and their usually willing family members. If you have a comment or contribution contact the editor, Rob Daves, at 617-566-7334 or robdaves@rcn.com.