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A conceptual design of the new south portion of Linear Park. A group working to update the park is asking town meeting for CPA money to do the playground.
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Anne O'Connor and Chairman Tim Carr participate in Monday's Williamstown Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting.

Williamstown Parks & Rec Committee Learns of Spruces Land Constraints

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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All development at the Spruces is at the discretion of FEMA and the land north of the red line is in a designated floodway that prohibits any disturbance, including picnic tables.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee on Monday learned about the town-owned properties that could potentially be developed for recreation.
 
And it learned why one large, highly accessible property likely won't be developed any time soon.
 
Town Manager Jason Hoch told the ad hoc committee about the town's efforts to develop the former Spruces mobile home park property, the Main Street (Route 2) parcel the town acquired through the proceeds of a hazard mitigation grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
 
FEMA must give permission for any use of the town-owned land, and the first test, Hoch explained, was a request to place picnic tables, benches, trash barrels and information kiosks on the site.
 
FEMA gave the OK for the minor alterations on the southern end of the property, closer to the road, but rejected a request to place anything closer to the Hoosic River and in the designated floodway.
 
"That request had about an 18-month review process," Hoch said. "I shared with you their final letter, which gives you a good insight into some of the restraints. Notably, in much of the property, anything that disturbs any part of the surface level of ground requires full engineering to make sure we're not altering the flood storage.
 
"The picnic tables we asked for in the back [north] of the property were outright rejected. We probably could have done a full engineering study … but that seemed like overkill for a picnic table."
 
The bottom line is that the town faces major constraints on that land, but, Hoch told the committee is in the process of improving recreational opportunities on a couple of other town-owned properties.
 
Thanks to the work of a group of volunteers called the Friends of Linear Park, the section of the park off Water Street is undergoing a major renovation. If next month's town meeting approves a request for Community Preservation Act funds, the Friends group is on track to install new playground equipment at the park as soon as this summer.
 
Meanwhile, the "other" Linear Park, north of Main Street, is in line for improvements in the town's fiscal 2020 capital budget, which has money designated for renovation of the public tennis courts and installation of a pickleball court at the site.
 
A separate CPA request before town meeting would fund a project led by the Hoosic River Watershed Association to create a hiking trail along the Green River that will unite both sections of Linear Park.
 
And the town-owned Bullock property on Berlin Mountain is part of a conversation between Town Hall, the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, Williams College and the Berkshire Natural Resources Council about a master plan to facilitate better hiking trail maintenance.
 
Hoch went through a list of all the large properties under his control and nine under the jurisdiction of the town's Conservation Commission to help give the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee the lay of the land as it embarks on the yearlong mission it received from the Select Board this winter.
 
The committee started meeting in February and determined a series of goals, including the creation of "actionable recommendations that what will sustainably steward existing resources."
 
As part of that process, the committee has identified a group of key constituents it is inviting to make presentations to the panel.
 
That process started on Monday.
 
"The idea with this is to give us an overview of the elements that exist in the town, some of the projects the town is working on and any ideas Jason has or he can represent from groups he is working with," Chairman Tim Carr said.
 
Committee member Beth McLean, a wellness and fitness expert who works at Nature's Closet, said she frequently hears questions from community members about whether the town could do more to develop the Spruces property.
 
Hoch said low-impact events like the recent February Freeze or a planned Easter egg hunt on April 20 are good examples of what can be done there. But he said the site is limited by the fact that there is neither electric nor water service, and that the benches, sheds, fences or excavation that would come with installing a playing field in the Spruces would be subject to major review from FEMA.
 
That last part likely is not good news to youth sports advocates like Jonathan Igoe from the Williamstown Soccer Club and Chris Leyda from Williamstown Cal Ripken, who both addressed the committee on Monday evening.
 
The pair said the playing fields at Williamstown Elementary School are cramped and too small for the age groups using them. Last spring, there were spectators from the lacrosse field in the left field of the softball field and teams warming up in the outfield of the baseball diamond.
 
"We're past capacity now, and we really need to start looking at other options," Leyda said.
 
Last year, Leyda said, Cal Ripken Baseball spent $5,000 and volunteer hours to rehabilitate the town-owned softball field at Broad Brook Park, and the group expects to spend the same amount of money this year.
 
The baseball, soccer and youth lacrosse groups are scheduled to make formal presentations to the committee at its May 6 meeting, and Carr asked them to submit data on schedules and usage rates in the meantime.
 
The committee's next meeting on Monday, April 15, will feature a presentation from Williamstown Rural Lands.

Tags: parks commission,   public parks,   Spruces,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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