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Town Government & |
Committees: Bare Cove Park Committee
2008 Annual Report The Bare Cove Park Committee meets on the second Monday of each month, typically at 7:00pm at Town Hall. Visitors are welcome; dates and times are posted on the Event Calendar and on the Town Hall bulletin board. The Town's website also contains information about the park, including Committee members, our history, Park Regulations, a printable map, dog etiquette, and a photo gallery. Construction projects this past year have made some nice additions to the Park. The new athletic fields built at Beal St. have made a new Park entrance there, providing additional parking in a new paved and lined lot. New recreational fields have been built off Fort Hill Street, taking over the access road from the Credit Union, so that now, visitors from Fort Hill Street travel on Bare Cove Park Drive, where a beautiful stone wall with a carved plaque, made possible by Mullin Brickworks of Scituate, graces the Park entrance. Also, there is a new gate at the Beal St entrance. Pipe, paint, bolts, chain, hinges, and labor for this project were donated by Robert Cogswell of Armor Welding and Fabrication, to whom the Committee is most grateful. Hundreds of visitors come to the Park each day, year round. Volunteer landscaper and committee member Frank Sheltry and Park Ranger Scott MacMillan, with assistance from DPW, do an excellent job making the Park an attractive and enjoyable destination for the public to enjoy. In addition to cutting the grass fields in summer and plowing the roads and some trails in winter, Frank and Scott continue to remove intrusive, non-indigenous vegetation. Scott also trims bushes and trees throughout the park that encroach on the roads. The Park continues to be a wonderful place to bring well-behaved dogs for exercise. We are happy to have Hingham’s new Animal Control Officer, Leslie Badger, in the Park often. She is very outgoing and personable. Leslie is delighted to pro-actively educate dog owners and the public about proper pet ownership and Hingham’s dog regulations. The summer’s rainfall made the Triangle Garden near the Bare Cove Park Drive entrance absolutely stunning. This park jewel is maintained under volunteer committee member and gardener Barbara Nicosia's direction, with help from Cindy Thaxter and Linda White. The dog waste bag program has been a big help in keeping the park's trails cleaner. Both of these projects are supported by The Friends of Bare Cove Park. Tax deductible donations are gratefully accepted, and can be made to: The Friends of Bare Cove Park The first End Of Summer Classic Road Race, held on Friday September 5th, was very successful. The four mile race drew over 300 runners, including 80 Hingham residents. The Friends of Bare Cove Park hope to make this an annual event. Funds raised -- $3,700.00 – will be used for the Triangle Garden, the dog bag program as well as activities for Hingham’s 375th Anniversary. Anniversary activities for “The 20th Century”, which will focus on the effects that the two World Wars and the Korean Conflict and the Conservation Movement had on the town, are planned to begin in late Spring 2010. The Park plans to erect a memorial stone honoring all who worked at Hingham’s Naval Ammunition Depot. The demolition and removal of a number of concrete foundations toward the Indian Point area / south end of the Park has started. As of early December, the Bare Cove Drive entrance off Fort Hill Street is closed during the week; visitors should use the Beal Street entrance. The re-landscaping around the green dock building on the river – including a memorial bench from a resident who grew up living on the Naval Ammunition Depot property, and the bollards and bits saved from the old pier – is complete. The transfer of 15-acres of surplus Massachusetts Highway Department land to the Town of Hingham is almost completed. Also, we are told that the Back River Connections Multi-Use Pathway, a proposal to connect Abigail Adams Park and Great Esker Park in Weymouth and Stodder’s Neck Park and Bare Cove Park in Hingham, has lost its funding. The Park has benefitted from volunteer help in other ways. October saw a Clean-Up Day. People from Project Turnabout, Quincy’s Community Service Program and many other others participated. We were supported with refreshments by Bruegger’s Bagels, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Stop & Shop which are located in Hingham on route 3A. Thanks to them for their help. At the Fort Hill Gate entrance stands an original guard house, donated by William Nolan and restored by a Veteran’s group. Our Ranger, Scott McMillan -- with help from Mullin Brickworks on the foundation and Tree and Parks with a hoist -- was responsible for installation. In some ways it is a small museum as displayed in each of its windows are images of the Base in operation. Finally, last spring when the tide was right, Hingham High Rowing held a meet against Tabor Academy. It was a flawlessly run event which will take place in 2009 also. The Bare Cove Park Committee works hard to preserve this lovely place for the people of our town and others in our vicinity.
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