Swampscott Open Space & Recreation

Phillips Park Goes Green!

Organic Lawn Care Pilot Program Now in Swampscott Taking care of our lawns is a seasonal ritual — one that can bring pride or frustration! There are many options for keeping lawns green and vibrant, but these fertilizers and pesticides contain harmful ingredients that negatively affect the health of our family, our pets, and our…

Invitation to Comment on Land Use & Management Plan for Harold A. King Forest

One of the objectives of the Swampscott 2013 Open Space & Recreation Plan (OS&RP) is to create “maintenance programs” for each of the Town’s open space and recreational properties. A Land Use and Maintenance Plan for the Charles M. Ewing Woods, a small parcel of conservation land adjacent to the Stanley School, has already been prepared….

OSRPC Letter to Board of Selectmen Regarding Future of White Court

December 15, 2016 Board of Selectmen 22 Monument Avenue Swampscott, MA 01907 Members of the Board of Selectmen, I am writing to you on a matter that we, the Swampscott Open Space and Recreation Plan Committee, feel is of vital importance to the future scenic and historic character of this Town. We have become aware…

Swampscott Open Space & Recreation Plan Committee to hold Superior Street Playground Dedication Ceremony

What is a neighborhood? Merriam-Webster defines “neighborhood,” first, as a “section of a town or city.” For example, the Superior Street neighborhood of Swampscott located by the Lynn line. But the dictionary’s definition also includes “people who live near each other.” In other words, a people-oriented, rather than a place-based interpretation. That seems like a friendlier…

Be Pesticide-Free

The first day of Spring has passed — albeit with a little snow. (It is New England, after all.) Soon arrives Earth Day. Observed on April 22nd, and first celebrated in 1970, Earth Day is a worldwide event held to demonstrate support for, well, the Earth. It’s a day to celebrate the planet’s environment –…

Invitation to Comment on Land Use & Management Plan for Charles M. Ewing Woods

In 2013, the Town of Swampscott revised its Open Space & Recreation Plan (OS&RP). One of the listed objectives in the plan is to create “maintenance programs” for each of the Town’s open space and recreational properties. To start, the OS&RP Committee has drafted a Land Use and Maintenance Plan for the Charles M. Ewing…

Get Your Butts Off The Beach

52.9 million. That’s the number of cigarette butts that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported being collected during annual Coastal Clean-up events during the 25 year period from 1987 to 2012. “Consistently the number one piece of litter found,” NOAA reported, “cigarette butts represent an astounding 32% of total debris items gathered overall at…

A Sense of Place

Two years ago the Boston Globe Magazine listed thirteen Eastern Massachusetts communities as the “Top Spots to Live.” According to the Globe, these communities were where the real estate market was “sizzling.” Swampscott was one of the thirteen. To capture the spirit of our town, the Globe included a photo, not of Vinnin Square, but…

Implementation of Swampscott’s Open Space & Recreation Plan

They would have laughed at the need for our town to develop a plan for open space. William Witter, Samuel Smith and Francis Ingalls, the first English settlers in Swampscott, would have thought it absurd — but that was back in 1629. The succeeding years brought change, the town started developing, and, as a result,…

What’s going on in Howland Park?

And where is Howland Park? Howland Park is the hillside at the end of Monument Avenue, centered on the World War 2 Memorial. We have all driven by it for years, and it was mostly a tangle of trees and bushes, with trash up the hillside under the trees. This hill, a former quarry, was…