Photo: A draft of the flyer announcing the March 30 workshop for the Brighton Street Planning and Zoning Project

Less than a month after successfully marshaling Town Meeting support to approve the creation of the Belmont Center and Gateway Overlay Districts on March 4, the town is moving quickly to replicate a simular plan for the corner of Brighton Street and Hittinger streets and in and around the Hills Estate.

“Your Voice Matters” proclaims the flyer announcing the first workshop of the Brighton Street Planning and Zoning Project which is set for Monday, March 30 in the Belmont Public Library’s McLaughlin Room. Sponsored by the Town and Able.City, the meeting will beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday’s virtual Select Board meeting was a preliminary planning session in preparation of the March 30 meeting.

Conor McCormack, Belmont’s Planning Division Manager, said the upcoming planning session is “the next step” in the process, following a public survey conducted by Harvard University Kennedy School students, and the Planning Board adopting a vision plan for the area.

As with the Belmont Center Overlay, Able.City will manage the public process, using the same techniques used previously in the center, said Jason King, a partner with Able.City East, the same consulting firm which patched together the Center and Gateway’s form-based design.

Public surveys, postcards to abutters and the surrounding neighborhood, as well as the opportunity for residents to be placed in an email “blast” will be used to bring out the community to the workshop.

The event will be a listening session, similar to a charrette, where all stakeholders will be asked how they resolve conflicts and map solutions. “It will also be an opportunity to provide [the public] an overview of a Brighton Street vision plan, and everything that’s been done before,” said McComack, as it will resemble the same setup as the Belmont Center and Gateway Overlays with charts, renderings of designs, and plenty of conversations with the town, consultants, and residents.

“The workshop will be the start to gather feedback from the public on what they see, and what they want to see in the future of Brighton Street,” said McCormack.

To obtain a good sample, the town is reaching out to the public to attend the meeting.

“We want to make sure folks in the community and particularly in the Brighton Street neighborhood are aware of this,” said McCormack. The town plans to send informational postcards to residents and property owners and allow neighbors to be placed on an email “blast.”

A day or two after the workshop, Able.City will hold several focus groups of approximately 15 participants at Belmont Town Hall with targeted stakeholders such as large property owners 

“Typically we would start the meeting with an overview of why we’re there, what we heard last night,” said Pamela King of Able.City. “Then we ask them for more specific feedback based on the topic of the meeting, to get the more detailed [suggestions] from them.” 

“We have a pretty good playbook,” said McCormack.

Photo: Santa in Belmont

Christmas is a day of gift-giving and reflecting on cheerful times from past years around the tree, before decamping to the dinner table to watch the latest holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel and professional sports contests – although the Celtics will be absent playing on Christmas for the first time in a decade – or just relaxing with family and friends.

For those who don’t celebrate the day, several fine Chinese restaurants will be open – Number One Taste on Trapelo Road with a limited menu – and movies are premiering on the big screen on Christmas: Timothée Chalamet’s latest, ‘Marty Supreme,’ opens today, Jack Black and Paul Rudd star in “Anaconda,” while Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson headline a true story about two down-on-their-luck performers who form a Neil Diamond tribute band in “Song Sung Blue.”

Thursday trash and recycling pickup will be pushed forward to Boxing Day, Friday, Dec. 26.

And if you have a “need” to get out of the house, here are a few places around town open on Christmas:

Christmas Day

Dunkin’

• The Dunkin’ at 353 Trapelo Rd. will operate from 4 a.m. until 6 p.m.
• The 52 Church St. location in Waverley Square will be open from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 350 Pleasant St. will be open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Starbucks

• The “Cushing Village” location at 110 Trapelo Rd. will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

CVS Pharmacy

• The store at 264 Trapelo Rd. will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• The operation at 60 Leonard St. in Belmont Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas.
• The pharmacies on Trapelo Road and Belmont Center will be closed.

Star Market

• Belmont’s supermarket, located at 535 Trapelo Rd., is closed for the holiday.

If you are looking to get around on the MBTA:

• The Fitchburg/South Acton Commuter Line will operate on a weekend schedule, and buses in Belmont will also operate on a Sunday schedule.

Photo: Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee Chair Mark Haley speaking before the Belmont Special Town Meeting

The new Belmont Sports Complex is not just coming in on budget, but is ready to open its doors earlier than originally scheduled.

OK, it’s pushing the official opening up by one day, and there’s going to be plywood instead of the thick exterior windows – the frames for the glass are just arriving. But the ice surface is in place and the complex is ready to welcome skaters and ice hockey players onto the newest rink in eastern Massachusetts.

In a presentation to the Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22, Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee Chair Mark Haley could hardly contain his excitement to announce the $32 million facility is just days away from coming to life.

“The Belmont Sports Complex is going to be a reality within 10 days,” said Haley to the applause of the members. Haley said the building is scheduled to receive in the next week a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy from the town which allows the new 40,300-square-foot skating rink to be used before all construction is finished, provided it is safe for partial occupancy. 

“If everything goes well, we’ll be able to rent ice come the third of November,” said Haley.

Haley also presented a video from the interior of the facility, providing a tour of the rink as well as a flyover to witness the partial installation of the 26,000 sq.-ft. of solar panels on the roof.

The opening day celebration will now occur on Saturday, Nov. 15, a day earlier than originally planned. The festivities will begin at 1 p.m. with a dedication, and then an open house with free, open skate for two hours.

“We want the community to come and enjoy this new facility,” said Haley. “It takes a village to complete a project of this type, and the village we have here is the town of Belmont.”

Across Concord Avenue from the rink, the public can tell the new Belmont Public Library is getting closer to completion is that the sidewalks have been laid along the building. Where the rink’s windows have yet to be installed, the library’s broad glass fracade reveils the nearly complete interior with stairwells and the large open space of the main lobby.

“I think you’ve all been witnessing the progress, and we are close,” said Clair Colburn, chair of the Library Building Committee, who made her presentation to the Town Meeting before Haley. “We’re really at the finish line.” And they are crossing that line with a little extra in their pockets as the project is coming in “significantly under budget” with any savings to be “given back to the town to reduce the debt and the final borrowing for the project,” said Colburn, to her own members applause.

In a few week, most of the library’s collection will come out of storage and be move into their new home when “substantial completion of construction” will occur, said Colburn. A soft opening for the public is scheduled for January 8, 2026, with a community grand opening on Saturday, January 10, with the snow date for the next day.

Photo: Belmont High’s Elizabeth Guevara heads towards victory in the 100 fly vs. Wakefield

After a recent meet, an official declared Belmont High Swimming Head Coach Lulu Emmons to be “the Queen of the Deep Sweep.” In swimming, a “deep sweep” is when a team’s athletes place in the top spots in each event. Even if they don’t win, for example, placing in the next three spots throughout a meet can be a back-breaker for an opponent. 

And Belmont has some bittersweat history involving “deep sweeps”: Ten years ago, despite winning five events to one, Belmont could not match the depth of Bishop Feehan High School which went on to win the 2015 Div. 2 state championship over the Marauders, 314 to 293.

So Emmons is happy to have the title bestowed on her.

“The depth that we have this year is absolutely amazing. I have not had this depth since my first couple years of coaching as an assistant,” said Emmons, who has been on the Marauders coaching staff for eight years, the past four in the top post.

That depth showed up in Belmont’s upset victory over defending Division 1 state champions Acton Boxoborough, beating the traditional powerhouse 98-88, at Higginbottom Pool on Sept. 19.

“That was exciting. That was a lot of fun. Girls did great. And that was unexpected, because we were coming right off of a tough loss against Lexington,” said Emmons, a four point nailbiter.

Belmont currently holds a 4-1 dual meet record.

That ability to have runs of high placements is due to size and commitment of Emmons’ squad, numbering more than 50 student athletes which allows Belmont to carry a full varsity squad including three divers and also a JV squad.

“But we try not to use those terms,” said Emmons of two seperate squads. Rather, she tries to have everyone see themselves as “being maroon and blue,” because she want everyone to feel like they’re contributing and being part of the team, she said.

The quality shows as more than 10 swimmers have qualified for the Division 2 sectional championship meet including eight who qualified in the first meet of the season.

“So right off the bat, we were locked in, plus all of our relays have qualified. Most girls have at least two events that they qualify. So we have at least 10 athletes that have qualified for one or more of their events. We’re still working on a couple of those state cut times, but we have got a squad going.”

Every good team requires at least one swimmer who can hit the wall first. This year’s highlight reel includes senior Elizabeth Guevara, who is swimming for Belmont for the first time this year. Coming from the club swimming system with Revolution Aquatic, Guevara has state qualified in all the free style events at 50, 100 and 200 yards. Her versibility shows in qualifying in the 100 butterfly, the 100 backstroke, and Emmons believes she might have a time for the 500 yard free.

“She has everything to be a great swimmer,” said Emmons, being very humble, a great athlete who takes good direction. “Even though she is one of the top swimmers, [Guevara] hasn’t been on this team for that long, so she understands that she’s still earning her spot on the team,” said Emmons.

On the other end of the grade level is first year diver Maggie Han, who qualified for states and leads a full contingency of 1-meter divers – including Grace Fagan and Cecilla Held – into contests.

And the heart of the team is its junior class “which is one of our strongest across the board,” said Emmons. “Summing Chan (back-stroke), Karen Tao (freestyle), Reina Yano (500 free), Sophia Bufano, Ahana Shama (breast-stroke) are all phenomenal swimmers. All have qualifying times.”

Belmont will be tested in two very tough league dual meets remaining in the league schedule: Winchester on Monday, Oct. 6 at Higgenbottom and away to Reading, Oct. 16 to finish the season.

“I know that Reading and Winchester has a couple of good girls. But I’m feeling really confident that those are both going to be pretty winnable meets,” said Emmons. “My thought process is always put up a strong lineup, always making sure that even if I’m not going to get a first place finish, I’m going to work and get a second, third, fourth place, or some variation of that, because it’s those depth points that really count. They really add up.”

Following the duel meet season, Belmont heads to the Middlesex League Championships at Bentley with high expectations.

“My top goal is to win,” said Emmons, knowing she has the upper hand gooing into the meet as diving results will be included in the team totals. “because now that diving counts towards the meat, “That’s an automatic for a second, third place finish for us. So we’re going in with at least 100 points.” But Emmons will be there to prove that her team is not just relying on the meet’s first event. “My goal is to definitely get Lexington at League’s because I firmly believe that my girls have the ability to beat that team. So the goal is to beat Lexington and win by more than 100 points.”

The team will then head to the MIAA North Sectionals on Nov. 2, at MIT’s Zesiger Pool and the Division 2 State Championships on Nov. 9, at Boston University’s Competition Pool.

“We finished at States last year third. [Belmont, with 200 points, finished behind Wellesley (384 pts) and North Andover (225 points)] So I would love to get second at states. That would be amazing. I would love to finish really strong at North Sectionals (6th in 2024) as well. Anywhere above fifth would be great sectionals,” said Emmons.

Photo: (Artwork by Ella Ferrari ’26)

The Belmont High School’s Performing Arts Company opens its 2025-26 season with Broadway Night: the annual musical theater cabaret on October 10 and 11, at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Middle and High School Main Theater

Featuring songs from contemporary and classic musicals and showcasing the talent of dozens of performers, the show is a fun evening of singing, acting and dance for all ages.

Each year the show features more than 20 solo, duet and group songs, with a mix of humor, heart, romance, and high-energy fun. The performance includes a dance number choreographed by the PAC Musical Choreographer Jenny Lifson and student-directed group numbers.

Broadway Night represents the core mission of the PAC, with an emphasis on showcasing student work. The performers have selected, staged and rehearsed the songs almost entirely on their own, with just a small amount of guidance from Lifson. In addition, the lighting design is done entirely by students, and the show ends with a finale song featuring the whole company

​TICKETS: $5 Students, $12 Adults

Get your tickets here

Advance Ticket Purchase online recommended as performances traditionally sell-out.
Some tickets will be available at the theater 30 minutes before each performance.
For students, tickets will be on sale at school near the cafeteria during lunch the week of the show.

Photo: Living the dream at Belmont Touch-A-Truck

For the fourth year running, Belmont Youth Activities and D.A.R.E. Inc., in partnership with Belmont Center Business Association, will present Belmont Touch-A-Truck on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cavalcade of vehicles will be located at the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot in the Center. 

Take a tour for an up-close view of tractors, trucks, diggers, police cars, and fire engines from Belmont DPW, Light, Fire, and Police, along with several local businesses. Sit in the driver’s seat, honk the horn, and take a photo in the front end shovel of the construction vehicles.

The rain date is Saturday, Oct. 18.

Photo: Belmont Town Day takes place on Leonard Street

Have your sun screen on hand this Sunday, Sept. 14 as the forecast is sunny and warm to accompany Belmont the 37th annual Belmont Town Day

Hosted by the Belmont Center Business Association and sponsored by Watertown Savings Bank, Town Day will take place on Sunday Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Leonard Street in the heart of Belmont Center. 

There will be multiple tables and tents along the street promoting and occupied by local groups, non-profits, retailers and restaurants. There will be kiddie rides, basketball hoops, and as always the popular dunk tank which the proceeds go to Belmont Helps.

Photo: The Juneteenth flag is the brainchild of activist Ben Haith, founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. Haith created the flag in 1997 with the help of collaborators, and Boston-based illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf who brought their vision to life. (CNN)

Thursday, June 19, the country celebrates Juneteenth National Independence Day. It is a federal and Massachusetts holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining June and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865, two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. (Thank you, Wikipedia)

If your scheduled trash/recycling collection is on Thursday, it will be delayed to Friday.

Here is what’s closed and what’s open on Juneteenth:

• Belmont Town Hall and town offices: Closed
• Belmont Public Library (at the Beech Street Center and the Benton Library): Closed
• Belmont Public Schools: Summer recess began on Tuesday, June 17 as there were no snow days.
• State and Federal government offices: Closed.
• US Postal Service: Both Belmont post offices are closed; express delivery only.

Most retail operations are open for the holiday.

• Retail stores and coffee shops: Open
• Liquor stores: Open.
• Supermarkets: Open.
• Convenience stores: Open.
• Taverns, bars: Open.
• Banks: Closed.

The MBTA will operate on its regular weekday schedule for those who want to use public transportation.

Photo: A purchase and sales agreement has been signed for the Hill Estates

A purchase and sale agreement for the Hill Estates, Belmont’s largest residential development, has been signed by the CEO of one of Boston’s best known and largest residential firms.

According to the PSA signed on April 15, the nearly 400 apartments and a small commercial space off Brighton Street is to be purchased from the DiGiovanni family by Hill Estates NERA, LLC which has offices at 39 Brighton Ave. in Boston. Hill Estates NERA propose to buy the nealy 15-acre site for $175 million: $173 million for the residential portion and $3 million in commercial property on the site.

The PSA can be found on Justia, a website specializing in legal information retrieval. 

A signed purchase and sale agreement does not constitute a sale; it simply sets the terms for a potential sale by outlying the obligations of the buyer and seller to complete the transaction. The actual sale occurs when the property is formally transferred at the closing. 

Signing for Hill Estates NERA is Jameson Brown, co-CEO of the Hamilton Company, one of the largest privately-held real estate organizations in New England. Now in its 71st year, the firm manages and leases approximately 1.5 million square feet of commercial space and in excess of 5,600 residential units, while developing and constructing both residential and commercial projects throughout Greater Boston.

The company was founded by Harold Brown, one of the true titans of Boston real estate. In six decades, Brown amassed billions of dollars worth of Boston-area property: if you were a student living along Commonwealth Avenue since the 1960s, you likely paid rent to Brown.

Photo: A dazzling rainbow frames Belmont Middle and High School glowing in the late afternoon sun as seen from Harris Field, April 15, 2025 (credit: Jessie Smith)