Local News
“I’m trying to be sensitive to the neighbors who have been tormented with inconsiderate visitors to the park.”
The opening of a new park in Waltham has brought a rush of visitors to the area, officials say, with the town now requiring parking reservations as residents grow frustrated with their streets being used for overflow parking.
Some parts of the large park, known as 200 Trapelo Road, opened to the public on May 17. It includes a large universal and sensory-friendly playground, a seasonal spray park, an 18-hole mini golf course, train rides, the sledding hill, a walking path with fitness areas, a 47-acre nature area, and indoor bathrooms.
Bill Hanley, a Waltham city councilor, wrote on Facebook about a week after the park opened: “We’ve received numerous complaints about parking issues in the neighborhood and on the streets.”
He said police will enforce parking restrictions in neighborhoods, but “we need a long-term solution.”
“Since the park opened, many visitors have been using nearby on-street parking as overflow, which has created problems we didn’t anticipate, with the ample parking on-site. I just spent an hour in the neighborhood and spoke to several people in person,” Hanley wrote. “Frustration has even caused people to put up signs, which I understand.”
In his post, Hanley included a photo of a sign that appeared to be nailed to a utility pole saying parking is prohibited “for Fernald Center across street” and “police take notice.”
To visit the park on weekends and holidays, residents and visitors are asked to reserve parking spots. Visitors are asked to stay for a maximum of two hours; parking reservations, which are made online, are also for two-hour time blocks.
The site’s parking lot has 100 spots, according to the Waltham Times. Kim Hebert, Waltham’s director of recreation, said that street parking is not permitted and that she hesitated to publicize the park further.
“The crowds are paramount and I’m trying to be sensitive to the neighbors who have been tormented with inconsiderate visitors to the park,” Hebert said.
‘Dead children haunt this playground’: Park development was controversial
The park is at the site of the former Walter E. Fernald State School, which has a controversial past dating back to the 1880s as the Western Hemisphere’s first state school for people with intellectual disabilities.
The school closed in 2014 after a history where residents were abused, malnourished, and neglected. Some incarcerated residents weren’t disabled and were forced to work for the school to save money, according to the City of Waltham. Some residents were even fed radioactive isotopes in their oatmeal — a notorious science project conducted by MIT in conjunction with Quaker Oats.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, some protesters held signs that said “Shame” and “Dead children haunt this playground,” according to the Times.
200 Trapelo Road includes a memorial grounds and educational signs acknowledging the Fernald School. Above the universal playground, which is designed to be accessible for people with disabilities, is a banner that says “Our differences bring us together” and “Fun is for everyone.”
“The history of this property is dark in many ways,” the City of Waltham wrote on Facebook. “While we can’t replace the past, we hope 200 Trapelo to be a place where we can change the narrative and offer people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to play, learn, grow, and live together, while also paying tribute and honoring the past.”
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