PHOTOS: 5k and Fun Run Raise Funds for Grene's Field

The Go Greene 5k and Fun Run raised money for Greene's Field repairs.

  Dozens of runners spent St. Patrick's Day weekend raising money for Greene's Field projects. The event was followed by a fundraising party in the evening filled Town Hall's Powers Hall. Saturday, runners lined up for the Go Greene 5k, and a number of kids laced up for a Fun Run. According to Tom Langford, a member of the Greene's Field Fundraising Committee (GFFC), the two races earned $20,000 for projects approved at November's Special Town Meeting. Article 12 was approved unanimously, which appropriates $445,000 toward rehabilitating the field and installing new playground equipment.  To aid fundraising efforts for playground equipment, the GFFC is selling planks,, which will be engraved with donor's names and messages, then installed …

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Go Greene 5k and Kids Fun Run

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go Greene! Lace up your sneakers and run for the green at the Go Greene St. Patrick’s Day 5K at 9:00am on Saturday, March 16th!

Greene's Field Going for 100 Planks, Donation from Kyle Shapiro Foundation

An update from the Greene's Field Playground Fundraising Committee thanks the Kyle Shapiro Foundation for a donation and aims for 100 boards in 100 ways.

  The Greene's Field Fundraising Committee sent the following letter to the editor: Thank You to Kyle W. Shapiro Foundation! The Greene’s Field Playground Fundraising Committee would like to say a heartfelt “thank you” to the Kyle W. Shapiro Foundation and its trustees, Ruth Bonsignore and Andy Shapiro. The foundation’s generous donation of $50,000 toward the construction of a new playground at Greene’s Field will ensure that generations of children have a place in the center of Needham to climb, play, slide, and swing. Because of donations like the one from the Kyle W. Shapiro Foundation, the new Greene’s Field playground is sure to become a destination for families, a meeting place for neighbors and friends, and a place where childhood …

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Greene's Field Getting Some TLC, New Play Structure

Fundraising efforts have already begun following approval of funds appropriated to rehabilitate the green space and play structure at Special Town Meeting.

Over two years since Greene’s Field Playground was to be dismantled, new play structures are on their way, and fundraising efforts have begun. At last night's Special Town Meeting, article 12 was approved unanimously to appropriate $445,000 toward rehabilitating the field and installing playground equipment.  "Greene's Field has been in need of improvements for years," said Mike Retsky, Park and Recreation Commissioner. The Parks and Recreation Department supported the "much needed" article, he added. Of that, $320,000 is expected to go to restoring the baseball diamond, basketball court and to building a walking path, explained Janet Carter-Bernardo, vice-chairman of the Community Preservation Committee. The rest goes to the purchase and …

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Citizens Invited To Review Fall CPA Projects

Needham residents can ask questions and share thoughts on the three proposals.

Needham residents are encouraged to come hear about several projects that are being considered for Community Preservation Act funding at Needham's Oct. 29 special Town Meeting. The Community Preservation Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposals on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in selectmen's chambers at Needham Town Hall. Following the hearing, the Community Preservation Committee will decide whether to recommend each of the three projects at Town Meeting. All three projects appear in the October 2012 special Town Meeting warrant. In 2004, Needham adopted the Community Preservation Act and its 2 percent surcharge on local real estate property tax bills. According to state guidelines, the funds can be spent in three main …

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Park & Rec Votes to Take Cricket Off the Table

The commission is requesting that the Needham School Committee remove Cricket Field as a possible future site for Hillside or Mitchell elementary schools.

The Needham Park and Recreation Commission voted this week to take Cricket Field off the table as an option for a future school site. Though the issue only recently came to light for neighbors, who flooded a School Committee meeting on June 5 to show their concern, the commission has been aware of the proposal since Park and Recreation Director Patty Carey saw the field mentioned in a report to the Permanent Public Building Committee in March and has been following the process closely since then, member Tom Jacob said. The commission submitted a letter to the School Committee earlier this month outlining some of their concerns. “It’s actually been on our agenda every meeting since we found out about it,” Jacob said of the issue. Though it …

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Quick Look: Plans for Greene's Field

The Greene's Field Study Committee has presented a draft document showing what the park will look like after it is restored.

At the selectmen's meeting on Tuesday, April 24, Selectman John Bulian, the board's liaison to the Greene's Field Study Committee, presented a draft plan for the park's new design. The plans call for a play structure located on or close to the footprint of the former play structure and restoration of the park's field, basketball court and grass areas. Bulian said a number of fundraisers are underway to raise money for playground equipment on the site, including Parent Talk's Casino Night, held April 21, and the Needham Women's Club's upcoming house tour on June 3. The plans call from a landscaped entrance with benches, gardens and a picnic area at the corner of Pickering Street and Great Plain Avenue and along Great Plain. The baseball …

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Greene's Field Committee Shares Ideas

Study group has been meeting regularly since August to consider how to proceed in renovating the downtown Needham park

Located in the heart of Needham, near the downtown and surrounded by residential streets, Greene’s Field has been on the minds of many in town in recent years. On Tuesday, March 13, members of the Greene’s Field Study Committee acknowledged the park’s importance to the town and shared their vision for what the park could look like after renovations. “This is an iconic park for Needham,” said Patty Carey, director of the Park and Recreation Department. “It’s in the center of town, and it says something about us." Part of that message is that Needham cares about its families, Carey said, and with that in mind, the study committee has been meeting regularly to talk about the best way to renovate the site for Needham families. The committee …

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