Good news: We’ve launched Friends of Albemarle as a neighborhood nonprofit 501c3 – and need you as a member.
The first 200+ members already include people from ALL EIGHT wards in Newton! It is a neighborhood park that clearly serves the entire city. Now let’s get to 1,000 members.
It is free and easy to sign up on FriendsofAlbemarle.com and joining is the best way to support the 17 acres, which are home to:
- Newton’s most heavily used athletic field, the site of many games of soccer, Ultimate, cricket, football, lacrosse, and more
- Newton’s only outdoor pool, Gath Memorial – home to the Newton Bluefish swim team
- Recreation space for the city’s largest middle school, Frank A. Day Middle
- Five baseball diamonds
- Three playgrounds
- Two tennis courts
- A basketball court
- Woods and wetlands
- A gazebo and a field house
- A bike rental hub
It’s also a precious swath of open green space that provides a communal resource for meeting, running, playing, walking, writing, and taking in the sky and soaring hawks. While our first order of business is building our membership, our second will be to support the city in evaluating a Gath Pool renovation. It will take all of us, but together, we can help this community park thrive.
It is an understatement to say that many people treasure Albemarle as a prized city asset. Show you’re one of them at http://FriendsofAlbemarle.org. We will never sell or share your personal information.
Thank you,
Cedar Pruitt
President, Friends of Albemarle
This is a terrific idea, supporting a park that has a key role in the lives of people from across the city. I really hope that this will create enthusiasm and more political will in the Mayor’s office and City Council to rebuild Gath Pool, a facility valued by thousands—especially those that don’t have the resources to go to beach houses in the summer—but that is in awful physical condition.
I’m sure the mayor will finding funding for albermarle park…
From a developer in exchange for another giant luxury rental building near Washington St.
The Gath Pool is a real community asset that should be updated and maintained. I spent many a summer day and evening watching my daughters on the amazing Newton Bluefish team coached by inimitable, tireless Mary and Scott Pohlman. I saw first hand that even though the pool facility was not nearly as modern or full of amenities as others towns have nearby, it didn’t stop the winning Bluefish. Gath Pool serves so many in our community with affordable recreation and it was a shame that it was closed last summer when pools in Watertown and Waltham remained open. I hope our Mayor really sees Albermarle as a park and Gath as a pool for the people and spends the money to update and maintain it for the health of generations to come.
Liz,
There is no need to guess the Mayor’s stance on Albemarle. She used it as a bargaining chip for Newcal.
As the outrage boiled over, she relented and has not mentioned funds ever since (note how quickly Webster Woods was allocated millions).
North of the pike is a dumping ground for the limousine liberals on the council.
The new state law mandating 0.5 multifamily zoning within MBTA stop will be the commuter rail rather than the T… just watch.
@Bugek – FYI – The two biggest projects on the table (Northland and Riverside) are south of the pike.
Jerry,
You fail to mention that north of pike has already approved 646 units just in the past few years
Trio 140
Dunstan east 234
Austin 68
Riverdale 204
Not to mention the 1 MILE stretch of washington street which will be rezoned multifamily. How many tens of thousands of units can you build on a 1 mile stretch… ALOT!
You make it sound like a conspiracy theory.
The point is, the mayor wont give $1 to albemarle, it will yet another bargaining chip for developers to speed approvals.
Note how dunstan east approval came with “donating” money for the brook
This nonprofit is exactly what is needed in that stretch of Newton. Albemarle is a remarkable recreation area, and the Friends will provide exactly the kind of support that it needs.
On a sunny summer day some 55 years ago, I stood on the stairs of the pool with countless other kids anxiously waiting for the roll up door to open…for the very first time! And here I am this many years later and I still wait anxiously for the door to rise. The mere fact that more than 50 years later, this pool is still standing is remarkable. But the longevity of this pool can be placed solely on the shoulders of Mr.Tom Cahill from Parks and Rec. Tom retired 2 years ago but it is safe to say, this pool would never have lasted this long without his expertise and absolute loving care of that facility. Sure, the pool is too small and the pool deck is too hard and there are few places to sit….and you can find lots of things wrong if you look hard. But the facility is ALWAYS clean and the water is crystal blue. But this is 2021 and the City of Newton and it’s residents deserve a state of the art, modern pool facility that can be used year round. But this costs money. Over the last few years, I have seen many blog and FB posts about how “awful” this pool is and why can’t people bring chairs and picnic’s and a whole slew of things. The answer is simple. This is not a resort pool. If you want all those amenities, join a private pool club. This is a public facility where membership fees are kept low so that regular people can afford to go there.
I live for the day when a new modern pool facility will be built. A pool for lap swimmers and water walkers with a separate pool for kids and play. And a third piece….a splash pad. The City can afford this…..and I wait for the day I can stand on the stairs and wait for the door to open.
TheWholeTruth,
What is the reason for the poor upkeep (last of upgrades) for the past 50 years?
Why do we believe those obstacles will suddenly go away?
I wonder how much a complete rebuild of pool would cost? 10-15 million?
I’m amazed how quickly the city found $10 million for webster wood… so apparently it can be done with enough political will
@Bugek,
I don’t think “poor upkeep” was my message at all. A public pool exposed to the elements for over 55 years and still being used is pretty remarkable if you ask me! But yes, it’s time has come. We know that there are problems with leaks and that in general, the pool is tired. Anything can get done if there is enough political will. The Mayor should look to the developers who are at her door and bargain with them for funds for City parks, playgrounds and pools! If she had been smart, she could have worked with Mark Development to get space in one of his projects along Washington St to incorporate a new senior center. Creative thinking and fair bargaining gets things done!
TheWholeTruth
If the only way to upgrade public amenities is to beg real estate developers then something is seriously broken with City government
@Bugek: The funding for Webster Woods came from Community Preservation Act funds and replacing a pool is not an eligible category for CPA funds. I believe a debt exclusion override is an appropriate funding mechanism for a new pool. If the city lays out the state of the pool in such a way that the voters clearly understand the need for the funding and what exactly their taxes would pay for, I think they would approve it. The voters have shown themselves willing to pay for things they want, and to reject overrides when the case was not clearly made, such as the 2008 override which was voted down.
Emily,
Thank you for clarifying how funds could be made available to improve the park & pool.
Maybe a stupid question, but where did the funds come from 50 years ago when it was originally built?
It’s a great question, but due to my extreme youth I cannot speak to what happened back then…
I believe we are paying more for pensions and maintenance than years ago because both categories were underfunded for decades.
I believe a larger share of the City’s budget goes to the schools than years back.
And the City has been adding properties – Aquinas, Waban Hill Reservoir – and, my personal pet peeve, – using CPA funds to purchase/maintain private properties. Currently, there are plans to use CPA funds to repair the steeple at Grace Episcopal Church.
CPA funds can be used for park maintenance.
In Newton, as in 90 some other communities in Massachusetts who have bought into the CPA program, 30% of incoming funds are allocated equally to 3 separate restricted use accounts each year, about $450k/yr, to Historic Resources, Affordable Housing and Open Space. These are the 3 CPA areas of focus. The other 70% goes into a unrestricted account available to any of these categories. In Newton, the Open Space account has gone to projects characterized as “Recreation.” It’s possible CPA funds could be available for the pool. I couldn’t say for sure. Best to contact the program director for the CPA, Lara Kritzer, to gain more insight. By the way, the pending CPA grant to save the 1873 Grace Church Belltower at Farlow Park in Newton Corner (approved by the CPC in October but pending ratification by the City Council) is slated to come only from the restricted account for Historic Resources with no impact on Affordable Housing or Open Space projects. The CPA in Newton has published criteria for funding which is aligned with the state wide Community Preservation Act Coalition.
CORRECTION! I have just been informed by an alert V14 reader that CPA funds *can* be used for pool renovation, and in fact that Lexington has recently done this. So now the natural question… why haven’t we taken this step, as Gath Pool has been in serious need of upgrading for years? I don’t know the answer to that but I do know our new Parks & Rec Commissioner has a strong pool management background so I am confident we will be seeing action on this front. Stay tuned.
Thanks to Cedar and the other charter Friends of Albemarle for providing a new focal point for this important recreation, open space, and civic facility.
Lots of discussion here about the pool, and previously about the fields and the playground. The fact is that this location has been neglected from so many points of view for years, including transportation and accessibility. Fix example, for such an active recreational facility in a relatively dense part of town, it is quite difficult to access on foot or by bike safely and conveniently.
There are projects and ideas that form pieces of the puzzle. The intersection of Albemarle and Crafts is a major crash hotspot. Fortunately, Newton has received a MassDOT Safe Routes to School grant to improve it. Similarly, Charles River Watershed Association has ideas about making the brook more resistant to flooding and more accessible to the public. I’ve heard replacing the narrow, ugly, and not-universally accessible bridge across the brook is on the horizon. Access to F.A. Day is also hazardous or inaccessible from a variety of routes, and the extreme parking needs of the new preschool risks overwhelming park uses.
On the other hand, there’s the possibility of a multi-use path along the brook that would provide safe walking and biking from Washington Street to the Charles River, which would allow more kids and families to travel to the Albemarle facilities without the need to drive.
The problem is that we aren’t tying these projects together into a coherent vision of what Albemarle could be. I hope that the Friends of Albemarle, combined with concerted planning and funding at the local, regional, and state level, can make this place be the gem it deserves to be.
@Mike Halle thank you for your comment.
Let’s also add to the pool that it is literally draining resources from the city – huge leaks which have been patched but never repaired. As someone who has participated in a senior water aerobics class for years, I can personally attest to the need for a new pool.
Right, Mike Halle: “The problem is that we aren’t tying these projects together into a coherent vision of what Albemarle could be. I hope that the Friends of Albemarle, combined with concerted planning and funding at the local, regional, and state level, can make this place be the gem it deserves to be.”
I have a lot of confidence of that with Cedar at the helm and support from City Councillors, this can rise on the municipal agenda.
Imagine use of CPC funds for the pool and the adjacent fields, combined with a debt exclusion override for improvements at this park and others around the city. This could be a winner for everyone.
According to the Newton CPC, there is $409,689 in the FY2021 account set aside exclusively for Open Space/Recreaction and $9.8M in the unrestricted fund. Believe it or not, the CPC is looking for good projects to review. Caution: it takes planning and a lot of perseverance. The suggestion above about a holistic approach to the park and its amenities seems very wise.
Great idea to upgrade the pool and park, but please do not ever whisper the concept of a debt exclusion…. Hasn’t anyone heard about Covid 19 and the disastrous financial effect it’s having on many newton residents????