Upset neighbors want ‘lights out’ at Williams

By Linda CarmanPrint Story | Email Story
Adams Memorial Theatre, with steel girders of new performing arts center at right and crane looming overhead.(Photo by Linda Carman)
WILLIAMSTOWN - Like a 747 seeking to land, the proposed 70-foot-tall lights to illuminate a proposed artificial turf field were diverted to Weston Field after residents of Syndicate Road turned out in force this fall to protest locating it at nearby Poker Flats. But just as those residents objected that the lights would change the character of their neighborhood, so now do residents of Meacham Street, saying they already endure more than their fair share of games and activities at Weston. “This is not simply a case of ‘NIMBY’(‘not in my back yard’),” they wrote in a recent letter to Williams President Morton O. Schapiro. “As things stand, we already accommodate more than our fair share of activities and facilities at and around the Weston complex throughout the year.” A Williams College committee is now evaluating plans for the turf field and lights, and it is likely to be “weeks, rather than days or months” before any decision will be made, according to spokesman James Kolesar. But the proposal continues to rankle some residents, some of whom view Williams as having encroached on local neighborhoods and changed their character. Recent large projects have included a $50-million-plus performing arts center next to Adams Memorial Theatre and its adjoining parking garage. Before that, the college erected a huge science center and studio arts center above Water Street. And it is about to build a retail, office and apartment complex at the foot of Spring Street, just a soccer-ball kick away from Weston. “Surely no other neighborhood in town is as impacted as we already are from college activities and facilities,” the Meacham Street residents wrote. “To place another major attraction such as a lighted artificial turf field in our neighborhood would be manifestly unfair and place a disproportionate burden on us.” The neighbors are not the only opponents. The college’s astronomy faculty and its Science Executive Committee, composed of chairmen of science departments, say the lights they would create light pollution that would interfere with astronomical observations. Astronomy Professor Jay Pasachoff said, “it is difficult for me to see how in the face of unified faculty opposition by such a wide range of department chairs that the lights could be installed as the Weston site, and I sincerely hope the decision will be not to use the lights. It’s an interesting discussion, and we’re waiting for the results.” Karen Kwitter, astronomy department chairwoman said. “Every time outdoor lighting is added, it has the potential to impede our observing the night sky. We would like the sky to be as dark as possible, with a minimum of artificial lights.” Factors affecting visibility include the height and wattage of lights and the direction in which they are aimed. Lights have been eroding the darkness for the past couple of decades, Kwitter said. “From the observatory [Hopkins] we already see the effects of lights on lower Cole Field. Students won’t get to see the real dark night sky. We’re in a remote area of western Massachusetts. We ought to be able to see the stars.” She added, “We understand that lighting is essential for safety and building access, but we just don’t want it to be wasteful and spill over into the sky where it doesn’t benefit anybody. In terms of the turf field, we’re really concerned because is has a strong impact on our whole observing program. “I’m not anti-development,” Kwitter said. “The campus has grown. But we’d like our concerns taken into account when lighting is being considered. It’s not just the college. It’s everybody’s night sky. Our resource is very vulnerable.” Similar concerns about light pollution, as well as neighborhood opposition, helped derail plans for lighting a turf field at Middlebury College in Vermont, according to Middlebury Athletic Director Russ Reilly. “We built the field but didn’t light it,” he said yesterday. “The reason was, we got some resistance from the local community and some campus constituencies — specifically the astronomy department.” He said he and other officials believed the field was more important than the lights but wanted it lighted to expand intramurals and other student recreation. He acknowledged that light pollution is an arguable issue but said he believes modern engineering can drastically restrict light spillage into the environment. Middlebury built its field in 1998 or ’99. At Dartmouth College, which built its turf field in 1999, hours have been limited due to the concerns of neighbors, Kathy Slattery, director of sports information. “The Sculley-Fahey field is very close to neighbors,” said Slattery. “One of the issues we faced was that proximity. We worked very closely with the town of Hanover and the neighbors to reach an arrangement that filled our needs and respected the surrounding areas.” The field, which cost $4.4 million, measures 86,400 square feet and seats 1,600 fans. It is used for field hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse game, and for other sports practices, she said. One of the Meacham Street opponents to the Weston Field lights is David Wohabe, an attorney and Williams graduate. “This one will have a big impact,” he said. “This is really the center of town. It’s a park-like setting that would be changed for the next 100 years.” Wohabe, who signed the protest letter with several of his neighbors, said it was designed to dissuade the college from “further burdening the Weston complex with activities and infrastructure.” “The college has been very vague with us. They have not let us participate as community members,” he said. “They just haven’t involved the community in the deliberations. We don’t see that they’ve exhausted their alternatives.” He suggested that lower Cole field, which already has infrastructure and is buffered from the surrounding neighborhoods, would be a better choice. Ray Warner of Meacham Street, often a critic of college policies, said he did not sign the petition because he enjoys the games and activities at Weston Field. He is not a fan of the proposed lights, however. “I think the lights are going to be terrible,” he said. “I think it’s really going to mess up Meacham Street. The lights are going to change the character of the street.” Another signer, who did not want his name used, said the college’s plan would “change a sylvan park-like setting forever with urban industrial light towers.” “If you have chosen to urbanize your campus with, for example, a parking garage, at least accept that and put a lighted field in the center of campus, not the center of town,” he said. Tom Costley, also a Williams alumnus, said the college needs to be sensitive to everyone who lives nearby. “We all want the college to flourish, but we want it to use patience, wisdom and foresight, not just rush to build under tremendous pressure from donors. The field is going to be here for an awfully long time.” Another resident, who also didn’t want his name used, said growth at the college is inevitable but must be carefully planned. “These are residential neighborhoods. How is the college going to deal with them? Buy them out? Or really look at the true costs, the negative impacts, and mitigate them in a fair and reasonable way?” he asked. Matthew Levine, a 1974 Williams graduate, said he came up with the idea of an all-weather turf field and led the fund-raising effort. Levine said his reasons were to honor the legacy of Renzi Lamb, who retired after 35 years as teacher and coach, and to use the field for intramural athletics, club sports and community youth sports. A marketing and sales executive, Levine said the field would benefit college players, particularly in the spring, when mud often means rescheduling home games. Six of the 11 colleges in the New England Association of Small College Athletics Conference already have turf fields, he said, so installing one here would be in line with updating Williams facilities, he said. Observers of college construction have noted that recent projects are larger, tend to create a more urban environment and have a greater effect on neighbors. Frederick Driscoll, a 1958 Williams graduate who lives with his wife, Genevieve, on Lee Terrace, said he objects not so much to the college’s parking garage on North Street but to the metal-clad belvedere that crowns it. “It calls attention to itself. It’s totally unnecessary, he said. Retired Williams sociology Professor Robert Friedrichs and his wife, Pauline, are selling their house at 33 Whitman St., overlooking the large new performing arts center, to Williams. Pauline Friedrichs said the construction project was probably a deciding factor in their selling the house they had lived in since 1975 and moving to a retirement complex in New Hampshire. “It had quite an influence on us … it was a very overwhelming change in our lives,” she said. “It’s a huge building site. The parking garage is along the west side; the new theater is on the south side of the house. — in your face is what it is.”
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Senior Golf Series Returns in September

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire County Fall Senior Golf series returns in September with events on five consecutive Wednesdays starting Sept. 18.
 
It is the 22nd year of the series, which is a fund-raiser for junior golf in the county, and it is open to players aged 50 and up.
 
The series will feature two divisions for each event based on the combined ages of the playing partners.
 
Golfers play from the white tees (or equivalent) with participants 70 and over or who have a handicap of more than 9 able to play from the forward tees.
 
Gross and net prices will be available in each division.
 
The cost is $55 per event and includes a round of golf, food and prizes. Carts are available for an additional fee.
 
Golfers should call the pro shop at the course for that week's event no sooner than two weeks before the event to register.
 
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