Dear Editor,
As signers of the petition asking Marlborough's Mayor Vigeant and City Council to reverse their decision to locate the proposed building in historic Ward Park (www.savewardpark.com), we'se concerned this proposal continues to move forward. The petition has obtained 749 signatures and the Mayor rushing forward to take away park land without public debate or meetings is unacceptable. Quite the opposite, he is interviewing architects and acting as if this strong opposition against taking away park land from the children of Marlborough doesn's exist. There are many concerns voiced and not being listened to.
Recently, Vigeant sent letters via US mail to residents of the Ward Park neighborhood. A map specially prepared by the City DPW Engineering division was included. The map shows the 7.6 acres that constitute Ward Park (parcel 69-394), but also includes a grove of trees, Bigelow School parcel, and other city owned parcels in an attempt to convey there are 12 acres of city owned “park” land for calculations. In the far left hand corner of his map is a small square representing the proposed building. His map is not fooling the citizens. We know there are not 12 acres for calculation, since the Bigelow school is not available and the mayor has publicly refused to use the grove of trees in the park's expansion.
Vigeant states the proposed building will Senior take 3% of12 acres or 0.36 of an acre. To come up with his 3% number Vigeant is narrowing the proposed senior center to exact “footprint” of the building itself; no buffer area or paved access drives included. Is it really fair to our seniors, or is it even possible, to squeeze in the needs of new center on to 0.36 of an acre? We don's think so.
We believe approximately 15% of Ward Park's field area will be rendered unusable by this building. The directly affected area is open space field where children play. Do we really want to take away this open field space? Would the city tolerate taking away 15% of Ghiloni Park? We think not. Somebody in city government needs to stand up and say this is a loose-loose proposal and should not move forward.
Michael and Faith Nickolas
Marlborough
