To the Editor:
We are writing in response to the recent, one-sided article about the Westborough Athletic Fields “generating excitement.” The changes going on are also generating concern among many of us who live in the downtown neighborhoods, primarily in regard to the Public Address (PA) system, something that wasn’t mentioned in the front page piece and was conspicuously avoided by Ms. DiCarlo in her public statements. We understand that this was intended to be a community “feel-good” story, not an actual news story, but it would have been nice if the concerns of those in the neighborhood and beyond, who experienced excessively loud nighttime play-by-plays from the new system, while having dinner in our homes with the windows closed, had at least been acknowledged.
After several letters from those of us concerned by the initial performance of the system, and direct complaints to the Westborough Police Department (which the school instructed would be the method for providing feedback), the school has promised to work on the issue of excessive noise spilling into the neighborhoods and those of us most affected will take them at their word and hope that there is follow-through. We might be excused for having any doubts, as the potential problems were raised by us at a meeting last March and our concerns did not seem to be heard at the time. If they had been taken seriously, perhaps the Public Address system would have been more carefully considered and thoughtfully designed at the start, with more appropriately directional speakers rather than the current, excessively high placement that currently blasts into our homes.
I’d like to remind the families whose kids will enjoy the “excitement” for a few years and then move out of town, and those that live far enough outside downtown that they can celebrate the positive without experiencing the downside, that many neighborhood residents (including us) who plan to make Westborough our home for the long-haul, will be impacted long after those exciting sports-filled days are for them are a distant memory.
Sincerely,
Luanne Crosby
Christopher Noonan
Westborough
