My favorite place in Boston, where I worked for over 20 years, is the Arboretum in the Forest Hills/Roslindale area. It is a huge, wooded area with sloping hills, a small winding river, and beautiful vistas. It is a place for utter tranquility for people and dogs alike. It has winding pathways, pretty swatches of open, grassy land, and is the most peaceful part of Boston with no traffic, no noise. Silence is golden. It was founded and owned by Harvard University but has been a free gift to Bostonians, suburban commuters, international visitors, children, elderly folks and man’s best friend.
I took my hour lunch break in the Arboretum for many a year. I spent 9/11 in the Arboreturm transfixed by the total quietude and could hear fighter planes guarding our capital from 50,000 feet above me. No one charges for the parking. No one charged me for strolling through this beautiful slice of rural Boston. It made the stress of my social work job bearable and was the high point of any day that the sun was shining for the seven years I worked in Roslindale.
I have found a few other beautiful places for walks in eastern Mass., including the Blue Hills (Milton and Canton), the Foxboro State Park, and Borderlands State Park in Easton. But the Arboreretum is the creme de creme of beautiful city parkland. It doesn’t have a golf course, it doesn’t have rides for kids, no special amenities other than its natural beauty, pretty trails, and majestic trees re-planted from all over the world.
Attleboro has the chance to purchase a similar park for a mere three million dollars. We have the opportunity to offer beauty, peace, and quietude to our 43,000 residents and visitors to our beautiful city.
*Attleboro has a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy 90+ acres of nirvana for everyone…. not just the folk who might be able to afford to live in the 120 or so homes and condos the Tamposi Brothers intend to build.
*We can let the sale go through and look forward to the land being lost forever or……. we can speak out next Tuesday evening, June 19, 2018. We can let our City Councilors know how much we want to share this beautiful parkland with Attleboro’s children, and for all future generations of our city.
* We have our own Arboretum right in our own backyard for an affordable price. We may never get this chance to preserve such beauty again within our city. Do we want to let it go to the Tamposi Brothers and lose it forever?
* Your son or daughter might be married someday in Highland Park. We might turn the building into a nature museum, or a beautiful place to hold big meetings. The Attleboro Community Theatre might present a production in the building or the high school might present a concert there. The list of possibilities for usage of this property are many.
*But this land will be lost forever if sold to the Tamposi Brothers.
*Join me on Tuesday evening, 7 pm sharp, June 19, to tell our City Council how much you want to save the Highland Country Club property for your children and Attleboro’s future generations.
BOSTON MAY HAVE THE ARBORETUM…. BUT ATTLEBORO WILL HAVE HIGHLAND PARK … for years and years. Your grandchildren and their children will thank you for saving this land for them.
If I was a city councilor I would be voting to purchase Highland Country Club. Please tell our city council how you feel.
Email the City Council at council@cityofattleboro.us be sure to be very clear in your email and state your name and address.
Call Peter Blais at 508-431-7230 and tell him you’re thoughts calmly. Remember to state your name and address.
Attend the City Council meeting on June 19th at 7pm at Attleboro City Hall.
Ty Waterman 