Town of Winchester

10:30 games at Ginn Field? Shall the neighborhood absorb yet another night time facility just yards away? Is this really fair to the residents of this area?

Contrary to the field committee commitment to notify us of meetings relating to Manchester Field, the Board of Selectmen are having a hearing on this tonight @ 7:30pm

http://winchester.us/Downloads/Selectmen%20Agenda/selectmenagenda.pdf

I came across a National Park Services article on the economic impacts of park development. The conclusions are that property close to greenways and open spaces hold greater value than those properties that are next to highly developed parks with many nuisance factors. Those properties negatively impacted actually lose significant value. This is common sense, since nuisance factors whether they are derived from a fast food joint, quick mart or park logically would have negative repercussions for adjacent properties. Seeing that we would be moving from a Manchester Field that is more open space to one that is highly developed sports complex demands consideration for property holders in the impacted areas.

NSP Article

Last night from 9:30 to 11PM there were a bunch of kids playing street hockey on the courts. I’m amazed they are able to see a puck/ball in such low light, but they certainly seemed to have no issues with game play. This brings up the issue of ancillary uses of the field when lights are added. If kids are playing basketball, hockey or just using it as a spot to congregate in near darkness, do you think having lights on the field will lessen or increase this activity? Not only will the games and practices be held under the a fluorescent glow,  it will be full use of ALL the facilities; basketball, skate park and other on field activities. Should we be expected to suffer this too?

Right now it is about 11PM and there are 3-4 kids playing basketball on the courts at Manchester Field. Mind you it is dark and they are playing ball by the dim glow afforded to them by street lights 100 yards away on Mystic. Thump, Thump, Thump of the ball with the occasional yelp of some glorious jordanesque night time move rings through the neighborhood. We have called the Police in the past, walk over and tell them the courts close at sundown… but year after year, at least 3-4 nights a week, people are out there late into the night playing basketball.

Noise has become one of the most pervasive forms of environmental pollution. Elevated noise can be found almost anywhere and especially in our neighborhoods. It affects our lives at home, time with the family and our ability to find a moment of peace after working 14 hour days. Noise, by definition, is any unwanted or excessive sound. We are now being asked to accept more than the current nuisances we live with, but one that will be with us almost every day until 10-11PM.  The night time practices, games, the youth sports, the mens and womens leagues will create a nuisance on an entirely new level, interfering with sleep, work, recreation, and in extreme situations anxiety, stress and other health problems. As someone who puts in 12 hours each day, coming home to a street full of cars with 16 year old kids stereos blasting,  the PA system blaring, blow horns blowing… is simply too much to ask one neighborhood to bear. Where is the measure of fairness and balance?

The School Committee met on June 25th @Lynch School Library to discuss the multi-million dollar Manchester Field, unfortunately the town’s published calendar (www.winchester.us/meetings/calendar.pl?dept=wm) said otherwise. Now on June 27th, the meeting was retro-actively added into the calender (Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9:53:28 PM). This type of situation of mis-informations has occurred more than once. The most glaring episode was the mis-information provided to the Winchester Star in May 2007 about the removal of the lights and permanent bleachers. The few neighbors that did attend an impromptu meeting two days after the article found that the lights were present and the were bleachers permanent in the middle of the field.

According to those in attendance, the things that had been previously communicated to neighbors would not be present would be easily added after. Apparently there were a number of proponents of the sports-complex present. The takeaway is this; lets get this in, tell the neighbors these things wont be there, appease them, then we will just add them later. Seems to be another case of tell them what they want to hear and do what we want anyway.

Mild to heavy traffic today. Random people deciding to park wherever they feel like it, even in our driveway. How about this every night till 10-11pm?

Nothing like coming home to a street full of cars, especially ones that block your driveway or make it impossible to drive down the street. As predicted, street parking is the answer. Hey residents, suck it up!

It has been brought to our attention that the Town and School District plan to develop a multi-sport complex on the site of Manchester Field. Unfortunately, the current plan will present significant alterations of open space, create increased intensity of use, and a density of facilities. This plan will have negative impacts to the rich, cultural and historic fabric of the town and its surrounding neighborhoods. Improvements are certainly warranted, but those improvements must represent a vision of a space that is cognizant of the historic character of the community, its location in the town center and a neighborhood which the field has been an extension of for over 110 years. The Neighbors of Manchester Field have outlined the following set of considerations for any improvements to Manchester Field. We feel these are critical to creating vibrant community space that fosters a strong alliance between people, place and the character of its surroundings.

• Our Historic Town. Winchester is a quintessential New England town; from the first settlers that came from Charlestown in 1630 to establish out town, we have always looked at our past with pride and inspiration. Manchester Field is no exception, established in the 1890’s, it very much part of the community’s unique historic and architectural character. The field is an extension of our historic town center and it is woven into the fabric ofFrederick Law Olmsted’s Mystic Valley Parkway.

• We Preserve Our Heritage. During the renovation of McCall Middle School, the community went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the preservation of the building’s historic and architectural character. Strict requirements were set forth that the renovations maintain the neoclassical appearance of the original building. Similar requirements were set forth to maintain the integrity of the historic character of other facilities in town (i.e., fire station, town hall, brick walkways, etc.). Manchester Field should receive the same level consideration as other historic facilities and places that have come to define our community.

• Creating “Place”. Manchester Field has always served a purpose other than athletics; it has been a place for people to congregate, relax and socialize in an open and informal setting. It has provided a respite from the day-today, allowing members of the community a place of impromptu and unstructured social interaction. Any changes to Manchester Field must consider and establish shared values for social, environmental, historical, transportation and aesthetics requirements. Doing so avoids the serious risk of creating a place that is ungrounded and unconnected from the community it resides within.

• Part of a Plan, Not an Isolated Project. Projects conceived isolation without the foresight of a broader plan will invariably look the part. Modern best practices in Community Planning and Design call for a broader, more inclusive vision, one that lays a cohesive plan for development efforts. Without such a plan, a community risks employing failed practices the Planning profession refers to as single use, “disjointed incementalist” project-based development.

To preserve its heritage and unique character, Winchester must place special considerations around its most limited resource; its public spaces. Do we opt for the rote and culturally absent formula of the “McMansion” style development practices so common in other communities or do we take another, less traveled path? As stewards of Manchester Field, the Neighbors of Manchester Field feel it is incumbent upon the town to strive for the exceptional, the remarkable, in the designs of this and other public spaces. As Frederick Law Olmsted once stated, “Great places arise from artful compositions of people and space”. Let our efforts here be a testament to our foresight and vision in keeping with the finest traditions of Olmsted; one that focuses on creating spaces for people and enhance, not disrupt, the visual communication of the landscape with its surroundings.

A friend of mine from a small rural town in Kenya was accepted on full scholarship to a college in New York in 1994. That summer he packed up everything he had, spent what little money his family could muster for a plane ticket and headed of to college. Unfortunately, he thought he was going to college in “NY” City, not 8 hours north in the snow belt of upstate “NY”. The admission office had implied a close proximity to NYC and he did not have any context around the geography and language to make an more informed choice. For a kid from Kenya, the novelty of snow wore off quickly especially in a region that would get 150 inches each winter.

When Gale Associates and the Town promoted some nice photos and drawings painting a very attractive vision of the proposed Manchester Field sports complex it reminded me of my friend from Kenya. What became obvious was they failed to give any context to the environment those efforts were developed. As with most things, context is critical to comprehension. Since context was conspicuously absent, it needs to be provided. Two projects in particular that were shown by Gale and the Town, Curry and Bentley College, are examined using aerial and satellite images via Google and Microsoft.

Bentley College

Currey College

Key takeaways for these projects in relation to Manchester Field;

• Not in residential neighborhoods
• Not located in historic districts
• When abutting a residential neighborhood, there were no lights
• Substantial “green” buffers were present between any abutting residences and the facilities to minimize noise pollution and light trespass
• Ample parking. No traffic or parking intrusions into residential neighborhoods
• Safety of children in abutting residential areas protected.