Cushing Square’s New (Temporary) Skyline As S.S. Pierce Building Tumbles

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Photo: Open space in Cushing Square.

For 102 years, the prominent three-story brick and frame building stood at the corner of Common Street and Trapelo Road, home for much of that time of the Belmont branch of the S.S. Pierce grocers.

On Monday, Feb. 20, the century-old Cushing Square landmark came tumbling down as the Cushing Village development prepares to move forward with the first major construction event, the excavation of the foundation and parking garage at the 164,000 square-foot project.

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The demolition of the two-story building designed by architect H. Thaxter Underwood – who also designed the Police Station and the demolished Underwood Pool Bathhouse and the first Chenery Middle School – was set for the Presidents’ Day holiday to limit traffic and parking disruptions as the large excavators pulled down the building away from the intersection.

The only business remaining at the site is Starbucks in the former Friendly’s restaurant. It is scheduled to close in the next few months to allow for the construction of the building on the former municipal parking lot. That structure – which will house a new Starbucks – will be completed by the early summer of 2018. 

Sports: Belmont Shares League Title After Rendering Reading Redundant, 57-51

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Photo: The bench and players on the court cheer what would be the game-winning basket from Greta Propp.

When Reading High’s sophomore guard Isabella Zagami hit an off-balance 3 pointer to tie its game with Belmont at 51 with less than 40 seconds in the game, it could have been a knife to the heart to the host Marauders.

But rather than dwell on what just occurred, Belmont immediately took the ball inbounds and grabbed the game by the throat and a championship into their hands.

Taking the ball from half court, sophomore forward Jane Mahon turned and headed directly to the basket. With a pair of Reading players stepping up to cut off her path to the hoop, Mahon lifted a soft, floating pass to a wide open junior forward Greta Propp who hit the easy bucket while being fouled.

“I said, ‘please, Greta, grab the ball,” said Mahon after Belmont (14-3) defeated the red hot (a nine-game winning streak snapped) Reading Rocket team, 57-51, to secure a share of the Middlesex League Liberty title with Woburn on Seniors Night, Thursday, Feb. 16.

In a game close from the second quarter on, the chemistry between the players on the court gave Belmont the victory.

“Our starters and those coming off the bench just have a great feel for the game and especially here,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart. She particularly praised sophomore off guard Meghan Tan for her standup defense and timely hoops.

“The hands that she got on the ball and the rebounds, she just made a lot of stuff happen.”

As her policy, Hart started all her seniors – the Haight twins, Reagan and Riley, Mary Kate Egan and the injured Margaux d’Arbeloff who came off after the tip – along with captain point guard Carly Christofori and junior Jenny Call. While Belmont fell behind early, 11-5 midway through the first, Hart noted it had less to do with the skills of the seniors rather the unfamiliarity of whom they were playing.

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Belmont seniors: Riley Haight, Mary Kate Egan, Margaux d’Arbeloff and Reagan Haight.

Reading entered the second up by a surprising 11, 18-5, led by its young trio of underclassmen, sophomore forward Alyssa Pryputniewicz, junior Kathryn Nestor and the Rockets’ stellar sophomore Haley Lightbody who is making her mark with her quickness and shooting ability.

Belmont soon cut the margin within two minutes with an eight-point run from 3s from Tan and Call along with a pair of free throws from Christofori “who is such a stabilizing force,” said Hart. Belmont’s 17-8 quarter – highlighted by Mahon’s pair of jumpers – allowed the slow starting Marauders to trail the Rockets by two, 26-24, at the half.

The second act was much as the first, with a paper-thin margin between the squads with Belmont’s sophomore center Jess Giorgio (4 points in the third) and Propp (7 third quarter points of her team-high 13 points) led the Marauders while Lightbody kept the Rockets in the game despite of Belmont defensive press.

The game’s big breakout came as the teams prepared for the final stanza tied at 36 as Belmont went the Stephen Curry route as Christofori and Call hit 3s from distance to take a six-point lead into the final quarter.

Belmont would keep the lead at half-a-dozen for six of the eight minutes with a basket Tan – who earlier in the quarter scored on a 3  and made two critical assists – giving the Marauders a five-point lead at the two-minute-to-go point, 51-46.

But Zagami made Belmont pay for a lazy pass with a steal with Lightbody making the hoop with 1:35 left, now 51-48. The Marauders were nearly a victim of a second steal, but Reading fumbled the ball out-of-bounds. But a Call layup on a quick pass break was stuffed by (that person) Lightbody which soon turn into Zagami’s fleeting highlight moment.

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After Propp’s hoop and free throw, Reading took a timeout to map out a sure thing play, but a momentary bobble by a Reading guard was pounced on by Tan who secured the ball to Christofori who would sink three of four from the charity stripe to secure the game.

“This team has a real confidence, we don’t get down when we are behind,” said junior guard Alexa Sabatino.

Next up for Belmont is a tough stretch of post-season matchups beginning with two games at the 2017 Spartan Classic starting Sunday against an excellent Pentucket squad with the second game on Monday. Finally, a rematch against Lowell, the only team to defeat Belmont other than Woburn.

“We want to play tough games because that will prepare us for the playoffs,” said Hart.

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Library Feasibility Group Backs New $23M Building, Sooner Than Later

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Photo: The feasibility committee voting on Thursday, Feb. 16.

After months of meetings and public comments, the Belmont Library Feasibility Committee unanimously recommended a new building option to replace the existing half-century old structure on Concord Avenue at a meeting of the Belmont Board of Library Trustees on Thursday night, Feb. 16.

“I am very appreciative of all the hard work from the committee,” said Kathleen Keohane, the Chair of the Belmont Board of Library Trustees and a member of the committee.

“We had a diverse group that represented different constituents in the community, and I think it been a very effective team,” she said.

Designed by architect Stewart Roberts, the new building – which would be constructed on the present library site adjacent the Underwood Pool  – is projected to cost $23.4 million if construction began in 2019. According to Library Director and Feasibility member Peter Struzziero, each year delay will cost an additional $900,000 in building costs due to inflation.

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From above: a new library for Belmont.

“We are eager to move forward as quickly as we can and a prudently as possible with the support of the community,” said Keohane.

But according to one member, it might be years before the town can take up the library for funding. 

“I’m gonna be a skunk at the dinner party to some extent because the handwriting is on the wall that this building is not going to move forward in the next few years,” said Committee member Jennifer Fallon.

What will put the brakes on moving quickly on the project is the looming presence of a new Belmont High School project which will require the town to ask taxpayers to pass a debt exclusion of between $100 million to $160 million in the next two years.

Fallon, who represents the financial watchdog Warrant Committee on the Feasibility Committee, added the town has to renovate or construct new structures for the Police and Department of Public Works, each estimated in the $20-$30 million range. The Capital Budget Committee, which manages large municipal purchases and construction projects, is in the midst of prioritizing the building projects. 

What could help move the library forward, said Fallon, is an active attempt at private fundraising to make a significant dent in the $23 million price tags. She also suggested the Trustees apply for state money through the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program which the town twice previously participated.

(Each time the town sent back millions of dollars of state aid when the Trustees could not obtain public or governmental support for much larger projects.)

And the Board of Trustees has been listening to Fallon’s helpful critique.

“How to fund the project is a fair question, and it has been a concern of the group given the demands of the town,” said Keohane.

“We will be exploring every funding avenue,” said Keohane, noting the trustees will be moving forwards with a capital fundraising program that will target businesses, individual and others. 

One place the Trustees will not be heading is back to the state. Despite the offer of paying for about a third of the construction costs, Struzziero said state aid requires the community to accept the Public Library Construction Program’s size requirements and final cost estimates, both which would likely be much more than the committee’s approved option.

“Our plan was created after discussions with the public with what they said was important to them and the town,” said Struzziero. 

It is now up to the Library Trustees to decide whether to ask the Belmont Board of Selectmen to create a building committee to move the project forward. 

The 12-member committee – co-chaired by Nancy Dignan and Elaine Alligood – endorsed a new 39,000 sq.-ft. building over renovating the current location for $16 million or adding an addition to the existing structure priced at $24.6 million

The approved proposal will provide the square footage to meet all the library programs – a children’s section, space for technology, sitting space, administration offices to name just a few – required by a busy suburban library; Belmont is the fifth most active of the state’s 370 public libraries.

It was also the most efficient in energy usage, meets current parking needs and will be the most cost effective to operate. 

The committee held three community meetings before nearly 180 residents and collected the responses of more than 200 patrons who took an on-line survey. The committee found the public sought more space for working and for a children’s library and a bigger, working elevator.

An online “tour” of the three options and how the committee came to its conclusion can be found here.

Selectmen OK New Restrictive Bylaw on Liquor License Transfers

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Photo: Licenses will be coming back the town.

Belmont Town Meeting members will be presented with a new prohibitory retail and restaurant liquor license transfer bylaw after the Board of Selectmen approved the language in the article on Monday, Feb. 13.

But due to delays on Beacon Hill in setting up legislative committees needed to take up and approve Belmont’s home rule petition, the Selectmen will have to wait until the first night of the annual Town Meeting, May 1, before presenting the article for a vote before the assemblage.

The Selectmen rushed to make changes to the licensing laws after a full liquor retail license issued to the owner of The Loading Dock was transferred in October 2016 for a $400,000 “fee” to supermarket chain Star Market which has created a large beer, wine and liquor department in its Waverley Square store. 

With the help of Belmont’s elected state officials, state Rep. Dave Rogers and state Sen. Will Brownsberger, the town was able to get “a feeling” if the legislature would be amenable to Belmont’s request to tighten the rules on the transferability. All cities and towns are required to petition the legislature on alcohol matters who have the last word on changes. 

On Monday, the Selectmen approved the more prohibitive of two versions, requiring the licenses to come back to the town if a business is sold or relocates. If a business moves to another site, it would be required to return the license and reapply for it. 

The second version would have allowed the business to transfer a license only after being in operation for three years. 

“That would show the license has value to the business,” said Paolillo.

But in the end, the board wanted the town to have maximum control over who can obtain a license.

“I want the most restrictive one,” said Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo, who commented that Town Meeting would have ample opportunity to “ease” the impact of the article if it chooses. 

An earlier pledge by the Board to hold a Special Town Meeting as early as February to pass the new bylaw fell to the wayside as Town Administrator David Kale said even if the town’s governing body voted in favor of the article, the legislature wouldn’t take it up for a vote until May at the earliest. 

Giorgio, Quirk Named Boosters BHS Student-Athlete for January

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 Photo: Jess Giorgio and Kevin Quirk.

Senior Kevin Quirk (Boys’ Ice Hockey) and sophomore Jess Giorgio (Girls’ Basketball) are the recipients of the Belmont Boosters BHS Student-Athlete-of-the-Month award for January. 

Sponsored by the Boosters and in coordination, with the Belmont High School Athletic Department, each month a pair of varsity athletes are selected by an independent panel as a BHS Student-Athlete-of-the-Month.

Nominations are made at the end of every month by Belmont High varsity coaches.

 

Opinion: Time Is Now For Sleep To Be A Priority For High School Students

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Photo: Bedtime. 

(Editor: On Feb. 7, the Belmont School Committee heard a presentation from the chair of the Belmont Start School Later campaign, Jessica Olans Hausman, and from School Committee member Andrea Prestwich requesting a task force be formed to consider a later beginning of the school day for Belmont High School students. Hausman presented an opinion article [below] to the Belmontonian to inform the public of current and future activities of her group.) 

The science supporting later school start times for high school and middle school students is evident.  An adolescent’s optimal sleep cycle is at 11 p.m. and wake at 8 a.m. Just put a Fitbit on your teen and put them to bed at 9 p.m. They will toss and turn until 11 p.m. That means waking up at 6 a.m. rouses adolescents at the lowest point of alertness in their 24-hour sleep cycle. It is the equivalent of an adult waking up at 4 a.m. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American Medical Association recommend starting middle and high school no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

Teens are physically and mentally healthier and higher performing with a school start time of 8:30 a.m. or later.  They perform better academically in school and experience 68 percent lower injury rate athletically after school. Incidences of mood and eating disorders, at-risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, and car accidents all decrease with later start times.  

Schools around the country, including Massachusetts, are making a move to later middle and high school start times with positive results.  

  • In fall 2016, Hanover High School changed its opening bell from 7:25 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. The school’s Assistant Principal Hugh Galligan has already reported “a 32 percent decrease in Ds and Fs in period one classes, and a 10 percent increase in As in period one classes this school year.”    
  • In 2012, Nauset High School changed to start school at 8:35 a.m with an immediate result of a 50 percent decrease in Ds and Fs.  These statistics have continued steadily at the school to date.
  • A Newton Start School Later working group has collected nearly 2,000 responses to its survey of six scenarios for starting their high schools as late as 9 a.m. According to the Boston Globe, the Newton School Committee is expected to vote this spring to implement later start times as early as the fall of 2017.
  • South Portland Middle School will move its start from 7:55 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and the high school will move its start from 7:30 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. in the 2017/2018 school year.
  • Boxford, Middleton, Mascomet and Topsfield formed a Start Times Advisory Committee in Spring 2016 that has already completed evaluations studying options for later middle and high school start times.

Much more examples of towns in the region can be found on the Start School Later Massachusetts Facebook page with additional updates available from the Start School Later Massachusetts newsletter.

What is happening in Belmont?  

Belmont may not be far behind these schools in moving to a later school start time.  In 2015, Middlesex League superintendents committed that, if their towns are going to change to later high school start times between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., they will change by Fall 2018. This will help to coordinate after-school sports schedules.  

Belmont School Committee is discussing starting a task force to explore starting school later for the 2018/2019 school year. Their preliminary discussion took place at the Feb. 7 school committee meeting at Chenery Middle School. They may vote on the question at the upcoming meeting on Feb. 28

Belmont residents are highly encouraged to attend this voting meeting at Chenery Middle School at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28.  At the start of the meeting, members of the community are welcome to voice concerns for up to two minutes each. If you wish to sign a petition in support of later school start times for Belmont middle and high schools you can respond here until the school committee vote on Feb. 28. Town task forces often take one year to explore different plans and logistics for starting school later.   

If the Belmont school committee votes to create this task force and follow the year timeline, they could vote in the winter of 2017-2018 on whether and how to start school later in Belmont.

It’s Official: Spokesperson Says Cushing Square Starbucks is Closing

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Photo: Closed … for now.

It’s the least best-kept secret in Belmont: the popular Starbucks Cafe in the heart of Cushing Square is closing.

If the reduction of parking and pedestrian access which dramatically reduced business wasn’t enough of a clue that the store would struggle as the construction of the 164,000 square foot multi-use Cushing Village development is built around the store, staff members have told customers that the store would be closing “soon” as reported by the Belmontonian a fortnight ago.

And now word has come from Seattle that makes what is already known, official.

“We can confirm that our store at 112 Trapelo Rd. in Belmont will close in the coming months while the building undergoes a large-scale redevelopment,” said a spokesperson from the Starbucks Media Relations Team in an email sent to the Belmontonian.

But the shutting of the doors at 112 Trapelo Rd. will not be the end of the coffeeshop’s presence in the neighborhood.

“We look forward to re-opening when construction is complete,” said the statement “and in the meantime, we invite customers to visit our partners (employees) at one of our nearby locations.”

Toll Brothers, the developer of Cushing Village, stated that a new store could be up and running in the project’s Winslow Building located at the site of the former municipal parking lot by the summer of 2018.

Selectmen Names Interim Town Admin As Search Begins to Replace Kale

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Photo: Phyllis Marshall

Phyllis Marshall, Belmont’s assistant Town Administrator, was named interim Town Administrator by the Board of Selectmen on Monday, Feb. 13 as the three-member panel puts into motion its “plan of action” to find a replacement for the departing Town Administrator David Kale.

“You’re going to be in it knee deep,” said Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo to Marshall, who takes over the top job in Belmont in mid-March as Kale heads to Cambridge City Hall. Marshall starts her new position in the midst of the annual budget season and six weeks before Town Meeting begins on May 1.

Marshall was hired by Kale to be assistant Town Administrator in December 2013 from Watertown where she was Treasurer and Collector.

The Selectmen voted Monday to increase Marshall’s salary to $160,000 during her time in the job. The selectmen also authorized the temporary hiring of a consultant to assist her with the budget process.

The board also on Monday revealed its outline on finding Kale’s replacement which will start with the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire a professional search firm to evaluate the job and assist in finding candidates.

Paolillo said the board soon will also create a selection committee – which could be made up of representatives of the Selectmen, Warrant and school committees, Planning Board and Capital Budget Committee – which will recommend two or three finalists.

The selectmen will have the ultimate final say on who is hired.

Paolillo said the board hopes to select the town’s new administrator by August.

What’s The Buzz? Keeping Honeybees In Belmont, Wed Night 7 PM

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Photo: Honeybee in nature.

Honeybees are pretty active. You might say they are … as busy as a bee.

A honeybee – whose wings stroke about 200 beats per second, producing its famous, distinctive buzzing sound – flies for up to six miles to visit between 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip, all the while helping to pollenate flowers and fruit and producing food in the honey made in the hives they occupy.

Some folks in Belmont have discovered this wonderful creature of nature and have allowed the bees to set up shop in all kinds of places in town. There are hives in open spaces such as Belmont Acres and adjacent to the busy intersection of Pine Street and Trapelo Road across from Moozy’s.

With interest in cultivating bees on the rise, the Belmont Board of Health is holding a Public Forum on “Keeping of Honeybees” on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. Learn things like where you can place a hive and the general practices of good beekeeping. 

Town Election ’17: Contested Races for Selectmen, Library Trustees

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Photo: Town Clerk’s Office.

Belmont voters will have two contested races to decide at the annual Town Election on April 4, according to the Town Clerk’s office today, Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Hillcrest Road’s Guy Carbone and Adam Dash of Goden Street will vie for the one available seat on the Board of Selectmen while a pair of incumbents – Kathleen Keohane and Gail Mann – are challenged by newcomer David Stievater for the two open slots on the Trustees of the Public Library.

The deadline for submitting completed nomination papers was Tuesday at 5 p.m.

What appeared ready to be a competitive contest in April fizzled as the School Committee will in all likelihood welcome Kate Bowen as its newest member as the Barlett Avenue homeowner joined incumbent Tom Caputo as the two residents certified by the Town Clerk’s Office for the pair of open seats.

In the end, current School Committee member Elyse Shuster and the Zoning Board of Appeals Nicholas Iannuzzi did not return the nomination papers they had taken out.

In addition to the above races, the remainder of residents running unopposed for town-wide office include:

  • Michael Widmer for Town Meeting Moderator (one year)
  • Floyd Carman for Town Treasurer (three years)
  • Robert Reardon for Board of Assessors (three years) 
  • Alexander Corbett III for Board of Cemetery Comm. (three years)
  • Donna David for Board of Health (three years)
  • Corinne McCue Olmsted for a one-year seat on the Library Trustees.