Mayor Responds To NewCAL Protests, Eyes Newton Centre Parking Lot

NEWTON, MA — After some push back from residents, the group working to find a new location to build a new senior center will revisit its list of possibilities. Officials in particular asked the group to focus on the possibility of using the parking triangle in Newton Centre for the center, the mayor announced this week.

The plan comes in response to a request from the Council on Aging to build a new senior center as the city has outgrown the one on Walnut Street. The project was dubbed "NewCAL" an acronym for Newton Center for Active Living, in honor of the city's desire to be as inclusive as possible. While the focus for the center will be on providing services for seniors, officials want more than just seniors to use the space.

The project working group recently ranked Albemarle Park as their top city-owned location to put the center, for the proximity to fields, the Gath Pool and space. But dozens of residents pushed back citing challenges such as traffic, parking and encroaching on the green space. They posted petitions and rallied outside of meetings.

So, members of the Parks and Recreation Commission, some city councilors and the mayor asked the working group to have another look at a few non-park sites, paying particular attention to the Newton Centre parking triangle, which had initially been set aside because it was too small.

"But, is the Newton Centre parking triangle too small?," Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a statement.

What if parking was built underground on the spot? Could a center there help businesses in the area? And how might building it there, affect the community both in terms of cost and traffic?

The mayor floated the idea that having the building close to the permanently deed restricted Newton Centre Green could be beneficial, and wondered if the city could create additional green space. She also floated the idea of adding retail, office or housing, and suggested the city put together a Vision Study for Newton Centre to this end.

The initial ideas generated from another look at the Newton Centre parking triangle will be shared in the coming weeks. The city is taking comments, questions and concerns on it from all sides and plans to continue to hold public meetings for that. But for those who were rooting for the center to be situated at Albemarle, it's not completely off the table.

"We will compare the advantages and disadvantages of this site and Albemarle even as we continue to explore City owned sites and private properties across Newton," she said.

The NewCAL Working Group is made up of 19 regular members - city councilors, representatives from the Council on Aging and Parks & Recreation Commission, members of the senior community and occasionally about seven staff members from various city departments

It meets every two weeks for several hours. Officials say the group will also now hold monthly NewCAL community meetings and post minutes on the project website.

"We knew finding the right location for NewCAL was going to be hard," she said, adding "I know the need for NewCAL is real. I believe the need is urgent."

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).