What is the relation of these two pictures?

Here are two pictures. Can you tell me the connection between the photo of the horse and wagon and the TD Bank building at the Framingham Center Common?
(For answer, please go to: "A bit of Framingham History solved") 

Mystery Building

I am sure many of you have driven past this building. Where is it? Do you know the original name of the building?

Answer:  The above photo is the Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank which stands at the corner of Franklin and Park Streets in Downtown Framingham. The building, likely built c.1938, is a remarkably handsome building unlike the typical New England architecture of the time. Perhaps the Art Deco style was chosen to reflect a progressive, confident nature of the bank following the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Opportunity to improve Southside

The corner of Mellen and Waverly Streets is considered the beginning of the downtown area. The Silton land and parcels owned by the Town might better be used to create a beautiful development of retail shops on the first level and small apartments or condominiums on the upper three floors. It is also adjacent to the entrance of Cedar Woods along Waverly Street.

No more automobile related business here. I call it our "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to turn things around for Southside and spark interest in this part of Town. After all, it's part of the Downtown and a quick walk to the train station.

For information about Cedar Woods...

Contamination abounds - but talk is scarce

Town, State and Environmental agencies must take blinders off and take action to address extensive contamination in an Environmental Justice Neighborhood.

Two brooks

Choices for you. Choices for your family. Choices for your neighborhood.
Take your pick...

Photo on right taken of Beaver Dam Brook showing oil film, sludge, debris blocked
at the 2nd Street crossing (off Waverly Street)

Letter sent to Zoning Board of Appeals for tonight's ZBA meeting:

Members of the Zoning Board of Appeal,

Congratulations from the auto junk yards, auto repair, radiator repair, auto storage, auto paint shops, used car dealers for work well done. You have allowed us to make this part of Framingham a welcome door for us to do as we please. With many thanks from landscape businesses, mulch, stockpile and junk yards. You have allowed no limit to the number of businesses such as ours.

Yeah, so what if there's contamination complaints from the Environmental Justice community. As long as it is business as usual for us.

With your help, the sky's the limit. For the rest of the community, our legacy is below their feet.

Mystery picture

What is this? Where is this? Respond to my post titled
"Mystery picture" on FramGov
 (Photo: George Lewis)

Mystery solved! Thank you to everyone who sent a response. Some people knew the subject looked like steps. Not the downtown library and not the Bowditch grandstands. One person said in keen detail: "Front steps of the memorial building , taken in the morning because of the shadow of the rails on the steps (which are the newer tread shape - indicating a recent picture) appears to be cast from the east and is long enough to be about at a 45 degree angle - don't know what time of year so I can't nail down the exact time of day but I'd venture earlier so about 7 or 8 am. Taken on the center rail left side because the right side would have had a shadow from the old concrete light bases.... the left rail would have shown the actual base and if it were taken of the top of the stair the architrave would have cast a shadow so I think you took it while standing on the plaza...."

Everything said was accurate. I only faulted the person for one mistake. The photograph was not taken about 7:00 or 8:00 am. It was taken at 9:00 am.
Thanks everyone.

Memorial Building stairs taken later in the day. Note change in the direction of the shadow.

Environmental Injustice: unequal protection depending where you live

Many Environmental Justice populations are located in densely populated urban neighborhoods, in and around the state’s oldest industrial sites, while some are located in suburban and rural communities. These high-minority/low-income neighborhoods sometimes encompass only a small portion of the land area of the Commonwealth but they host, or are in close proximity to, many of the state’s contaminated and abandoned sites, regulated facilities, and sources of pollution.

Everybody has a right to clean water and clean air, and nobody has a right to degrade and destroy the environment. We're not talking here about little critters which few people see. We're talking about healthy communities where we can send our kids out to play, where we can live and bring up our families knowing that everybody's doing their part in using and disposing of toxic chemicals properly.

Former gas plant site harbors cyanide, other toxins

By Gerard F. Russell
Worcester Telegram and Gazette Staff
Posted Aug. 29, 2015

Worcester Telegram newspaper of August 30, 2015.
Front page article about contamination at Framingham
Irving Street site owned by EverSource.

There is no yellow caution tape or sign warning of deadly toxins, but 350 Irving St. is a cyanide-laden wasteland.

Home to several thriving businesses, it was once the site of an 1800s-era manufactured gas plant where the process left toxic byproducts: oil, coal tar, PCBs, cyanide, petroleum hydrocarbons and many other hazardous chemicals.

A portion of that site was sold to a local businessman who is now feeling the sting of hazardous pollution. An Auburn man is suing a company he worked for at the location.

Framingham's Sudbury Aqueduct runs through toxic site

By Gerald F. Russell
Worcester Telegram and Gazette Staff

According to an easement granted to Commonwealth Gas in 1982,
a permanent right-of-way was allowed over the aqueduct (see
area in red) requiring construction of a bridge. The
easement states, “a suitable reinforced concrete slab with at
least one (1) foot clearance between the bottom of the concrete
slab and the top of the aqueduct” was required. DEP and
MWRA officials say they do not know if such a structure exists.
See April  15, 1982 agreement by going to the Massachusetts Registry
of Deeds, South Middlesex County, Book 14584 Page 511.

The 22-acre Eversource property on Irving Street is dissected by a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority aqueduct, called the Sudbury Aqueduct, that is used in emergencies by the water authority that delivers drinking water to millions of people in eastern Massachusetts.

It was taken out of service in the 1980s but was used as recently as 2010 during a major pipeline break in Weston. At the time, it was used for three days.

Elements of good skatepark design

 from SkateparkGuide.com

If you think that quality skateparks come from pushing around some dirt and pouring “crete” on a bump, think again. Building a concrete skatepark is a labor intensive and highly specialized endeavor. Further, if the builders don’t get it right the first time out, you’ll be skating their lumpy transitions and similar mistakes and for a long time to come.

Examples of Skateparks and sizes

12,000 sf: Ponderosa Skatepark and Skatepath
NOTE: Framingham Matters editor suggests the skatepark design to include a "skate path" that loops back.
 

Click here for other views of this skatepark and skatepath

     The Ponderosa skatepark in Bend, Oregon, consists of an approximately 8,000 square foot main park and 4,000 square foot skatepath and features a variety of street and transition opportunities including quarter- and half-pipes, stairs, rails and ledges. The final design was based on public input, site opportunities and constraints and budget.

Suggested skatepark locations

Suggested locations for a skatepark.

What better place for a skatepark than at Farm Pond?

Across Dudley Road from Cushing Memorial Park is a sunny open area near the Bocce Court and adjacent parking area. It is a fitting place to have an outstanding skatepark. Not only could it serve the young skateboarders, but could become a place for families and people to relax, exercise and enjoy this area close to Farm Pond as well. A well-designed skatepark could be an attractive addition to the draw of the Cushing Park area.

The ideal location for a skatepark is at Farm Pond, opposite Cushing Park. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Selecting best location for a skatepark is primary goal 

A skatepark is only as good as the site that it’s located within. And because a skatepark’s site is so critical to the ongoing success of the facility, finding the perfect one can often be one of the most arduous parts of the skatepark development process. Some of the most important criteria to focus on when evaluating potential skatepark sites are:

Blight and slumlords: Time to renew Operation Red?

Blight, unsafe and unhealthy housing properties owned by slumlords continue to be a problem to control. Read about a novel method in Framingham which began in 1996 to eradicate this problem. Perhaps it's time to renew this program.

Scarlet plywood brings shame to slumlords
From Boston Business Journal, June 2, 1997
By Jim Miara, Journal Staff

In the real old days, shame was a sensation strong enough to incite repentance in sinners and to strike a universal chord as a literary theme in such works as "The Scarlet Letter."

Although daytime talk show guests leave the impression that shame has lost much of its moral force in today's society, Framingham's "Operation Red," which exposed slumlords to public scrutiny, would indicate that it still has considerable sting.

Clever thieves in the new technological world: Be wise, be wary, be prepared

Long-term parking

A family left their car in the long-term parking area while away. During that time, someone broke into the car. Using the information from the car registration in the glove compartment, the thief drove the car to the car owner's home and robbed it. If you are going to leave your automobile in long-term parking, do NOT leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener. Please review any other personal information you may have in the car.