Kendrick Park: 3 acres of greenery anchoring the north end of downtown
Tree Warden Alan Snow took the Public Shade Tree Committee on a guided tour yesterday morning pointing out trees that would be impacted. For now it appears the southern end of the park closest to the heart of downtown will be "phase one" in the overall renovation which could take years.
The town received a $1.5 million state grant to bury utility wires in and around the Kendrick Place development and originally the electric company had planned to cross Kendrick Park, but that is no longer in the cards.
But that project will provide plenty of electrical capacity for the lighting and other upgrades expected to occur in the park.
Alan Snow pointing out five trees in the target zone
The walking tour did not get off to an optimistic start as the first thing Mr. Snow pointed out was five trees at the southern most tip that would be removed to accommodate a circular ornamental concrete paved area.
The committee instantly suggested the structure be made smaller or situated in such a way as not to require tree removal.
Large Sugar Maple possibly endangered by expanded parking
Next up was a very large Sugar Maple on the western side of the park that could be endangered by expanded parking on that side of the park. The plan is to change the configuration to diagonal nose in parking which would increase the capacity from current 7 spaces up to 11.
Shade Tree Chair Henry Lappen suggested perhaps sacrificing three spaces in order to save the tree.
The first hedgerow that cuts across the park east to west will also be removed to open up the greenspace and to accommodate a crushed stone walkway and pergola. In fact pretty much all the hedgerows of trees running east/west will be cleared, but of course new trees will be planted around the perimeter of the park to replace them.
Click to enlarge/read
Kendrick Park was once the site of 11 homes. George Kendrick, an influential banker, did not like the looks of one particularly run down tenement house owned by an absentee slumlord so he and his wife set up a trust in 1930 to buy all the homes and have them removed.
When the last home left the site the park was officially turned over to the town.
Old driveway in middle of park will be removed and reseeded
The northern tip of the park may also be impacted piecemeal by the installation of a roundabout at the East Pleasant/Triangle Street intersection next year where the controversial new Kendrick Place sits.
New roundabout construction next year could impact small clump of trees
Trees on northern tip may require removal for roundabout
Some of the trees are unhealthy and will have to be removed regardless of the various construction projects:
Dead Norway Spruce
Sick Cherry Maples
Nonny Burack standing on long dead remains of Elm tree
Although a couple of mostly healthy trees will be taken down very soon as part of the electrical project that is now going on.
Crab apple and Linden will be removed soon for electrical work
But overall, just a few years from now, Kendrick Park will be a more beautiful natural resource that will rival the Town Common for public usage.
16 comments:
Thanks for an outstanding post, Larry. Great explanation and details with photos, so rare in the local reportage these days. Glad we have you.
Love the park already, and look forward to the improvements!
Nice park, bad surroundings.They don't need a roundabout as they didn't need those ugly monstrosities. It's a return to the bad old days when UMass's concrete Soviet-block-style structures went up. UMass's buildings have improved. The campus looks great with many new buildings that look well-suited to the environment. It's not brain surgery. Amherst could have built economical, yet attractive buildings if someone had given a darn.
Its too bad the park could not be turned into a developed area again. That area would be the perfect spot for a few new stores to bring in much needed taxes. Since there was once houses there it means that the utilities are already in place, they just need to build. Its sad that we waste our tax dollars paying for someone to tend to trees. There are many other town resources that work with trees and town land (parks department, DPW) The more Amherst develops the better.
Not sure if that was sarcasm or not but doing so would be a clear violation of the Kendrick Trust.
Remember, the entire property was donated to the town free of charge. In fact there is still tens of thousands in the account to help with upkeep (Mr. Kendrick thought of everything).
I'm not 3:49, but s/he is right.
Amherst doesn't need a second common--it needs a tax base.
I truly don't understand how a dead person can compel a town to do something.
I guess the town could give the land back, but to whom?
My neighbors just gave their house/land (near ARHS) to a university. The university didn't turn the propery into a park--it sold it to get cash for higher priorities.
I love the fact that the town will be bookended by green spaces. Thank you to the Kendricks for their forward thinking ways!
why does the plan have a parking lot in the middle of Kendrick Park? it's not that big and who wants cars pulling in and out of a small park and onto a busy street?
That parking lot, left over from the most recently removed house, would be removed and reseeded. The new parking would be along the outside perimeter.
I agree with Anon 3:49, the space is perfect for development. Mr. Kendrick certainly did think of everything I guess, but if our town is always talking about how they don't have money to hire firefighters, fix roads, or business to tax... take the land, sell it, and develop! People in this town talk about greenspace (NIMBYs), however, having a vibrant built-up downtown area would be more beneficial. I am happy that the Kendrick apartment building is going up. It makes Amherst have more of a downtown feel. We should build 10 more of those buildings in the downtown area.
-Loui
Mr. Kelley, I think you are missing an "L" in the last sentence of your post. not to worry it could happen to anyone. Where are professional proofreaders when you need them? (I need them sometimes too.)
Thanks.
For some odd reason I've done that a few times with that particular word. Hope it's nothing Freudian.
sometimes you also write "lightening" instead of "lightning," such as in one of your recent posts on the community fair. I have a few words I mix up myself & some issues with apostrophes, both putting in extras or leaving them out when they are needed.
But we digress.
The roundabout is something that's definitely going to be constructed? If so, that's great! It will greatly improve the traffic situation at that intersection and has beautifying aspects as well, especially in conjunction with the burying of power lines. Is there a timeline or plans for the roundabout project available?
This year is the burying of utility lines on East Pleasant and Triangle, and next year will be the roundabout project.
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