Wild ride before the carnival
Published on May 22nd, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The carnival must go on, but not everyone is happy about where it’s going.
The Open Space and Recreation Committee doesn’t approve of holding the carnival on the exterior property of the Stoneham Arena at 101 Montvale Ave.
“We feel there are safety issues and worry that it might affect the par three course,” said Recreation Commission Chairman Chris Abreu.
Parking and access to the carnival will be along the same Montvale Avenue turn off as the rink and the Stoneham Oaks golf course and adjacent to ongoing USA storage facility construction.
“We went to Selectmen and got their approval weeks ago,” said Bee Russo, President of the National Coalition for Educational and Cultural Programs (NCECP).
NCECP has a big name, but the organization is a local charity that runs programs such as a recycling resource center to provide teachers with low cost materials for projects. The equally awkward acronym of the Stoneham Business and Community Educational Foundation (SBCEF) joins NCECP on the bill as carnival sponsors. This group offers grants to educators for programs designed to supplement local school curricula.
“We’re just trying to raise money so we can give it back to the community,” Russo said.
Selectmen reiterated their previous approval of the carnival site at their May 14 meeting. The Recreation Commission presented concerns at the meeting, and Russo addressed them, Selectmen Chairman Tony Kennedy said.
“We voted to let it stay because Bee addressed the concerns and because she already had a signed contract,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said Selectmen thought the carnival organizers had spoken with the Recreation Commission before coming to them. Russo said she assumed Selectmen were the final authority.
“When they (Selectmen) said OK, I thought they had already talked to everyone else,” Russo said.
But the Recreation Commission was left out of the loop.
“I know it’s for a great cause, but we should have been notified,” Abreu said.
Abreu said the carnival will reduce revenue to the town by deterring people from golfing at the Oaks. The carnival hours will be 6-10 p.m. from May 29-31, noon to 10 p.m. on June 1, and 1-5 p.m. on June 2. He said traffic will also pose safety risks to children.
“The town will need to hire more police details to handle traffic and safety,” Abreu said.
In a May 14 letter to Selectmen, the Youth Commission listed eight concerns: parking, access to the Oaks, reduction of golf revenue, damage to the golf course from increased foot traffic, access to the arena, damage to new shrubs, safety issues and children walking on the construction site.
Russo told Selectmen that there is a fence separating the construction site. She said the skating rink parking will handle the crowd, and golfers won’t have trouble getting to the tees.
“This is just a misunderstanding,” she said. “We didn’t know about concerns until the last minute. We weren’t even on the (May 14) Selectmen agenda.”
The Recreation Commission was similarly surprised.
“We didn’t know about the site until the day of the Selectmen’s meeting,” Abreu said. “That’s why we wrote our letter that day.”
And as Kennedy said, Selectmen assumed the carnival organizers had spoken with the Recreation Commission before checking with Selectmen.
Last year the carnival was held at the Gutierrez property. Next year there won’t be another carnival at the rink, Abreu said, speaking for the Commission.
“I doubt it will work out that well (at the rink site),” Abreu said.
Russo disagrees, but adds, “In the future, we will go to the Recreation Commission first.”
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