By Margaret Velie
This year, Town Meeting will be considering four projects for Community Preservation Act funding. By law, Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds are limited to projects for affordable housing, historic resources, open space, and outdoor recreational facilities. Last fall, the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) received seven preliminary applications for funding. Since then, one project was deemed ineligible, and two others were withdrawn. The committee reviewed the remaining four applications and is recommending all four for funding.
Affordable Housing
Feasibility Study for the Redevelopment and Creation of New Affordable Housing Units at Belmont Village
The Belmont Housing Authority is requesting $173,000 to study the feasibility of creating additional affordable housing at Belmont Village.
Belmont Village is Belmont’s only state-subsidized family public housing development. It was built in 1949 for World War II veterans and their families. The nine-acre site contains 100 two- and three-bedroom units evenly divided among 25 buildings.
The study’s goal is to determine the feasibility of adding affordable housing in Belmont, especially accessible one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Creating affordable housing on publicly owned land is cost effective, as land value is a substantial part of development costs.
Historic Resources
The Homer House, home of the Belmont Woman’s Club. Photo courtesy of Margaret Velie.
Homer House Window Restoration
The Belmont Woman’s Club is requesting $100,000 to restore 43 inoperable double-hung windows, two stained glass windows, and damaged exterior wood scrolls on the dormers at the William Flagg Homer House.
The William Flagg Homer House is in the Pleasant Street Historic District at the corner of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1853 as a summer house for Adeline Wellington and William Flagg Homer, the aunt and uncle of American artist Winslow Homer.
The Belmont Woman’s Club purchased the stucco house in 1927 to save it from demolition, and has maintained it since then. The club will contribute $10,000 towards the project’s total cost of $110,000.
In May 2013, Town Meeting appropriated $10,000 in CPA funds to assess the condition of the house and make recommendations for repairs and rehabilitation. The 2014 report, William Flagg Homer House/Belmont Woman’s Club Building Survey and Investigation, recommended the window repair and restoration.
The Historic District Commission supports this project.
Belmont’s Town Hall chimneys. Source: Boston Chimney and Tower.
Town Hall Chimneys
Steve Dorrance, Belmont’s facilities director, is seeking $125,000 to preserve and restore the three chimneys at Belmont Town Hall.
The brick Town Hall was built in 1881 and designed by Boston architect Henry Hartwell. The chimneys are a defining feature of the building, but they have fractured, are missing bricks, and have developed a number of cracks. The project will stabilize the chimneys by repairing the cracks and replacing and realigning the damaged bricks. A waterproof sealer will be applied to the entire exterior of the chimneys.
The CPA committee used $9,800 in administrative funds to hire Boston Chimney and Tower to inspect the chimneys and make recommendations for their restoration.
The Historic District Commission supports this project.
Outdoor Recreational Land
Town Field Playground Restoration
The Friends of Town Field Playground are requesting $680,624 to rehabilitate the more than 20-year-old Town Field playground plus the adjacent pickleball and basketball courts. The new playground will better serve both children younger than four and children older than eight, and will include an exercise/parkour course.
In May 2018, Town Meeting appropriated $25,000 to design a new playground for the site. During the design phase, the Department of Public Works determined that the pickleball/tennis and basketball courts also needed rehabilitation, and expanded the project scope to include them.
In May 2019, once the design was complete, Town Meeting appropriated another $60,000 in CPA funds to prepare final construction drawings and bid documents for the project. Now that the drawings and bid documents are complete, this year’s Town Meeting will be asked to vote on the construction cost. The Friends of Town Field have committed to raising $25,000 for the project.
Belmont’s Department of Public Works and the Recreation Commission both support this project.
This will be Belmont’s eighth year funding CPA projects. In the past seven years, Town Meeting has appropriated almost $10 million for more than 40 projects, including about $2 million in matching funds from the state.
To read the complete project applications, see Belmont-ma.gov/community-preservation-committee. For general information on the CPA, visit communitypreservation.org.
Margaret Velie is a member of the Belmont Community Preservation Committee.
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