Category Archives: Downtown

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North Street paving going fast

27th Annual Student Faculty Show – 4/7 opening reception

From Kate Jones, K-12 Art Department Chair, Medfield Public Schools –

For the twenty-seventh year, the Zullo Gallery, in collaboration with the K-12 Visual Arts faculty of the Medfield Public Schools, is hosting its Annual Student-Faculty Art Exhibit. The Zullo Gallery offers a fantastic opportunity for deserving student artwork to receive special notice by our community in a professional gallery setting. The show is designed to highlight student work and pieces are chosen as examples of student learning within the art curriculum. This year’s exhibit will be held from April 2nd through April 24th.

We are excited for the return of the in-person reception on April 7th from 5-7pm. Please join us to celebrate these artists with their art teachers.

The Zullo Gallery is also open every Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon until 5 PM. Over the course of the exhibit, the Zullo Gallery is typically visited by hundreds of viewers, enjoying the display of our wonderful student artwork.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND SCHEDULE kicks off with Select Board office hours tomorrow 9-10 AM

HOLIDAY WEEKEND SCHEDULE

  1. Select Board office hours – Friday 9-10 AM at The Center
  2. Holiday Stroll – Friday 4 – 9 PM downtown
  3. Holiday Parade – Saturday 1 PM downtown
  4. Angel Run – Sunday 12:30 PM Medfield High School

Post-COVID planning for downtown – please take the survey

From Town Planner, Sarah Raposa –

In December 2020, the Town of Medfield submitted an application to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to take part in the Local Rapid Recovery Planning Program (LRRP). The LRRP is intended to provide municipalities in Massachusetts with the opportunity to develop actionable, project-based recovery plans tailored to the unique economic challenges and COVID-19 related impacts to downtowns, town centers and commercial areas across the Commonwealth. Additional information is available on the LRRP website.

There are three phases for this program:

Phase 1 (Diagnostic) was completed from April to June 2021 and included data collection from the study area (see below for a map of the study area, Note: not shown, but the study area includes Basil’s on Frairy Street) to assess the current state of the physical environment and its impacts on customers and businesses and the impacts of COVID-19 on businesses in the study area.

Phase 2 (Project Recommendations) is currently ongoing and involves reviewing data compiled during Phase 1 and obtaining feedback from the community to develop recommendations for projects intended to help Medfield achieve its recovery goals.

Phase 3 (Rapid Recovery Plan Development) will be completed in August 2021 and will involve development of strategic project recommendations based on information gathered in Phases 1 and 2 and best practices collected from communities throughout the Commonwealth and the country. BerryDunn was paired with the Town to serve as Plan Facilitator for the program. On April 14, 2021 a BerryDunn team conducted a site visit of Medfield’s study area. The team collected data on the physical and business environment and presented findings to the Board of Selectmen on June 1, 2021. The BerryDunn team is currently working with Town officials to obtain feedback from the community for Phase 2. Please use the links in the survey to provide your thoughts on the study area, including suggestions for physical improvements, regulatory changes, economic development challenges, or simply your experience as a business owner, employee, customer, resident, or visitor to downtown Medfield. 

The LRRP approach considers six facets of downtown economic development including: 

  • Public Realm:  streets, sidewalks, public parks and other public spaces
  • Private Realm: commercial buildings, storefronts, parking lots and open space on private property
  • Revenue & Sales:  strategies for increasing revenue of existing businesses; issues impacting business growth and customer traffic
  • Administrative Capacity:  government regulations, staffing and oversight; organizational management of the district or business association
  • Culture & Arts:  public art, arts and cultural institutions, businesses, events, educational facilities, etc.
  • Tenants Mix:  attraction and retention of businesses and particular business types

Comments, suggestions and ideas are loosely organized in these categories above and can be posted on the Ideas Wall or by using the Study Area Map.

Survey Webpage: https://berrydunn.mysocialpinpoint.com/town-of-medfield 

We appreciate your thoughts!


Best,
Sarah

Sarah Raposa, AICP

Town Planner
459 Main Street
Medfield, MA  02052
Office Phone: (508) 906-3027

Work Cell: (339) 206-1773
sraposa@medfield.net  

www.town.medfield.net

Out of Office: last week of July and last week of August

Arbor Day celebration yesterday

Select Board Chair Michael Marcucci reads the Arbor Day proclamation yesterday afternoon, while the Brownie Troop that arranged for the two cherry trees to be planted in front of the post office look on and then mulched the trees. The DPW’s Robert Kennedy, Jr. assisted the Brownies with the mulch.

Photos by Pamela Bates

Pam McCarthy and Kate Holmes, the Leaders of Brownie Troop 82076 stated:

“The girls felt special, and so happy to get together (in person, hooray!) as a group to do something meaningful for the town. Those beautiful cherry trees will be there for years to come, and I’m sure each time they drive by, they will fondly remember that those are ‘their trees.’  And we, as their parents, will take pride in thinking the same! What a wonderful way to wrap up the school year for them!”

DPW plants trees at Post Office

DPW’s Drew Dauphinee at the tree and Joe Gorman running the machine

Today the DPW’s Drew Dauphinee and Joe Gorman are planting two good sized cherry trees on the berm in front of the post office. The Town of Medfield owns that site and leases it for the post office to use. North Street is starting to achieve a critical mass of cherry trees for the town to build on, starting with the large one at the Bank of America up through the cluster Bob Borrelli installed in front of his two buildings across from Deb’s and my office.

Jean Mineo was heard to think that once there are six more cherry trees along North Street that she will organize an annual Medfield cherry blossom festival.

Survey of downtown businesses

From Town Planner, Sarah Raposa –

The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Local Rapid Recovery Plan (LRRP) program includes a survey of local business owners located in the targeted downtowns or commercial districts. The purpose of the survey is to obtain business input to help guide strategy development, garner buy-in from the local business community and provide data from all LRRP participating districts for DHCD to inform programs and policy.


The survey will be administered online and the same survey will be used in all communities.
FinePoint Associates. After the survey closes, FinePoint will prepare a summary results report for each community. The report produced will provide results in aggregate form only so that the results will be anonymous. These results will contribute input for the diagnostic phase and help inform plan development.

Survey opens March 17 and closes early April. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LRRPBiz

Thanks,

Sarah 

Sarah Raposa, AICP

Town Planner
459 Main Street
Medfield, MA  02052
(508) 906-3027
sraposa@medfield.net  

www.town.medfield.net

Click here to access Medfield’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage

Medfield Open For Business

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MHS 1887 aerial view

This 1887 aerial view of the downtown is another one of the Medfield Historical Society’s on-line maps.

The only familiar buildings to me are the Ord Building, the Unitarian Church, and the town house (and only sort of for the town house – it is in the right place).

MHS 1852 map of the downtown

Medfield Historical Society website has a collection of its artifacts, which include an 1852 map. This part of that map shows what buildings existed then in the downtown – https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3764m.ct002329/?r=0.49,0.428,0.162,0.119,0.

Holistic Wellness Center becomes First “Civic Founder” of Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund


Photo credit – Jenny Moloney Photography

Holistic Wellness Center becomes First “Civic Founder” of Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund

The Medfield Foundation (MFi) is pleased to announce that Holistic Wellness Center, LLC (HWC) of Medfield has become the MFi’s first Civic Founder of the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund. Holistic Wellness Center is owned and operated by Darrah March O’Connor and Sarah Schochet Henken. HWC is an independent wellness center that offers the best in holistic healing treatments that include (but not limited to) Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Reflexology & Energy Work. HWC has been operating since 2010! In addition, HWC offers the best in Holistic, Metaphysical and Fair Trade goods hand selected from around the world. Historically, HWC has offered many related workshops which they plan to resume when it is appropriate and safe to do so again. Holistic Wellness Center is located in the Medfield Crossing Shopping Plaza on route 27 – right here in Medfield!

The Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund is an endowed fund of the Medfield Foundation, that seeks to raise an initial endowment of $1 million to support non-profit and community initiatives in town. By supporting these initiatives now and in the future, the Legacy Fund seeks to assure that Medfield will be able to do more of the special things in the future that make Medfield the great community that it has been for so many people and their families, and provide financial resiliency to meet future community needs. The endowment is being raised through “Founders,” who commit to contributing at least $5,000 over five years.

Sarah Henken said “We are delighted to join with the Medfield Foundation to help Medfield by means of the Legacy Fund, and we hope other businesses will consider participating as well. HWC is honored to be the first Civic Founder.” The Civic Founders are businesses who contribute at the Founder level.

If you too appreciate your Medfield community and would like to leave more of your mark on Medfield’s future, please consider becoming a Founder of the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund. See more about the Legacy Fund at http://medfieldfoundation.org/legacy-fund/.