MDC takes over Spot Pond
Published on June 23rd, 1999
STONEHAM, MA- The Metropolitan District Commission will raise its flag in front of the Botume House at 4 Woodland Road in a July 1 ribbon-cutting ceremony symbolizing the transfer of Spot Pond from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority to the MDC.
The event is scheduled to last from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. with food and ice cream for all.
The Governor has been invited, and Tony Kennedy, the Stone-ham selectman who has championed this cause for several years, is excited.
As of July 1, 500 additional trout will be added to the already stocked 340-acre pond, and 10 to 20 rowboats and canoes will be available for use at the MDC's discretion. There are over 3,000 feet of paths within the 500-acre reservation and work continues on surrounding sidewalks and grounds. Planner for the MDC, engineer Al Pratt, even hopes to have a boardwalk around the shoreline perimeter of the pond.
"This is a big thing for the people of Stoneham," Kennedy said.
So big in fact that two celebrations are scheduled.
A week after the ribbon-cutting, music and fireworks will fill the air above Spot Pond as the MDC hosts a second evening fete on July 8.
The MDC will reveal the details of its July celebrations and the status of ongoing site work at the June 24 Spot Pond Committee Meeting at the Botume House.
According to MDC Commis-sioner Dave Balfour, the commission is well into phase 2 of the three phase Spot Pond project. The underbrush had to be cut in phase one, and phase two sidewalk and curb reconstruction along the outside loop of the reservation is underway. The final phase is aesthetic decoration; the MDC plans to add picnic benches, new signage, stage areas and the flag poles mentioned earlier. The American, Massachusetts and MDC flag will fly on Woodland Road.
"I'm working on getting a Stoneham flag up there," quipped Kennedy.
Selectman Kennedy said he was glad to see everything coming together. At previous meetings of the Spot Pond Commit-tee, residents and officials of Stoneham raised issues of privacy and safety.
Neighbors at Straw Point worried about people launching boats from the shoreline in front of the homes in the neighborhood. But the boats will be maintained by the MDC on the other side of the pond, behind the Botume House.
Stoneham Police Chief Eugene Passaro worried about extra calls.
"We are going to get the calls (from problems around Spot Pond)," Passaro said at a Stoneham selectmen's meeting earlier this month.
Balfour says MDC Rangers will monitor the land, and the State Police out of the Wellington Barracks will provide the police presence.
"The land has been under State Police jurisdiction, like Break-heart Reservation (in Wakefield /Saugus), and they will continue to cover it," Balfour said.
"The State Police have made a commitment to the MDC to have the personnel," Kennedy told the Chief.
Stoneham Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey was worried the MDC initially had no "action plan" to rescue potential drowning victims.
Last week Balfour explained that the MDC will have a boat on site at Spot Pond, and whenever any boats are out, the rescue boat will be on the water. The boat will be staffed with trained rescue personnel from the MDC Rangers Marine Division.
Joggers, boaters, fishers, picnickers, hikers, bikers and site-seers are welcome to explore the new-and-improved Spot Pond.
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