Wed, Mar 23
7:00pm East Cambridge Planning Team meeting and presentation by the East Cambridge Open Space Trust (East End House, 105 Spring Street)
What would you do if you had the funds to acquire or improve open space in your neighborhood? That’s what the trustees of the East Cambridge Open Space Trust are asking 
our neighbors. The Trust is custodian of a fund dedicated to that purpose. The trust was formed as part of the settlement of legal action over public amenities provided with the development of what was known as Cambridge Research Park. No longer known by that name or owned by the original developer, it is the area south of Binney Street. and east of Third Street. including the Genzyme building, Watermark apartments, and the Kendall Skating rink.
Money was given to the trust based on the number of square feet in the buildings in the development. Most of the money expected from the settlement has been paid to the trust and we are ready to begin deciding how we can do the most for our neighborhood. That’s where we need your help. We want to know what you want in your neighborhood. Is it a new pocket park, playground, park benches, planters, public art,or something else? We have lots of ideas, but we want to know what you want. The money can only be spent on open space projects in East Cambridge. That means the part of Cambridge bounded by the Grand Junction tracks to the west, the Somerville and Boston borders to the north, the Charles River to the east. and Main Street to the south. If you live here, or even if you don’t, we would like your ideas about how to improve the area.
We don’t have enough money to buy and build a big new park, but maybe we could work with the city to make that happen. We might be able to buy a small plot and make a nice little area, but working with partners such as our city government might make a big difference and we would love to make the fund go farther.
We will be making a presentation to the East Cambridge Planning Team at their meeting at East End House, 105 Spring Street, on Wed, March 23 at 7:00pm. We will ask attendees to write down their ideas for us to add them to ours for consideration. You may also contribute your suggestion on our blog site. [CCTV announcement]
[This announcement was contributed by Mark Jaquith, Chairman, Board of Trustees, East Cambridge Open Space Trust]