History of the Newton Conservators
1960-1981
Throughout the 1950s, Newton was under enormous
development pressures. Initially this appeared beneficial as little in
the way of home construction had occurred through the 1930's and 40's
and returning veterans and their families could find few affordable homes.
The City of Newton reacted imaginatively to this shortage by taking a
large land tract in Oak Hill by eminent domain and building affordable
homes. As private construction companies followed suit in the next decade,
shopping complexes and large industrial buildings took up more land in
addition to that used for homes and schools. Ambitious developers proposed
a number of high rise apartment and office buildings. Boston College,
which had been a 6-building complex, expanded rapidly as did the Newton
College of the Sacred Heart (now BC Law School). The MDC began to sell
off its woodland near Hammond Pond for development as did the privately-owned
Norumbega Park. The state came forth with
plans for a super east-west highway to cross the city.
By 1960, Newton citizens became deeply concerned
that their beautiful "garden city" would soon become a victim of uncontrolled
construction. A small group of people from various sections of Newton
met to discuss what could be done. Each of them had been involved in
trying to protect open land in their own neighborhoods and together
they formed the Newton Conservators, which was incorporated in 1961.
Allard M Valentine, president of the Auburndale Cooperative Bank, and
Murray I. Rothman, rabbi of Temple Shalom, were concerned about plans
first for a race track and then for high rise buildings proposed for
Norumbega Park. Benjamin F Shattuck, a former alderman, saw developers
replacing fine old Victorian houses in Newton Corner with brick apartment
complexes of unimaginative design. Jack M. Roberts and Helen A. Heyn,
both members of the Oak Hill District Improvement Association, had seen
most of the farm and woodland of their village disappear, and then the
Shaw Estate at the edge of the Charles River came up for sale. The first
development proposal for this land included three 20-story apartment
buildings. When this was rejected, the Sylvania Corporation proposed
constructing a vast science park on the same site. Dr. Richard Lennihan,
Jr. found Edmands Park in Newtonville badly
neglected and fast becoming a handy local dump. Deborah Howard, involved
in ornithology research for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, was concerned
that wildlife habitats would soon be decimated in Newton. Lorenz F.
Muther, state representative and director of the Newton Taxpayers Association,
felt strongly that a balance was needed between developed space and
open areas.
The Conservators initiated several small, successful
projects that earned the new organization publicity and credibility.
The city was persuaded to amend its zoning laws to prohibit developers
from stripping and selling loam and sod before construction. Conservators
joined together with high school students to plant 100 evergreen trees
in Edmands Park. The new organization then tackled the major issue of
the reuse of the privately owned Norumbega amusement park on the Charles
River. After a number of years of petitions, challenges, and public
hearings, the Newton Conservators, working together with Auburndale
neighborhood organizations, persuaded the city to purchase more than
half of the land for a public park for passive recreation. The remainder
was developed by the Marriott
Corporation. Periodically over the following decades, Marriott has
endeavored to expand in one way or another. However, most Newton citizens
feel that the size of the hotel is sufficient for this suburban "garden
city". Consequently, these actions have been voted down at the recommendation
of the Newton Conservators, the Newton Conservation Commission
and Auburndale community organizations.
The land development battles of the early 1960s
made it clear that Newton needed a Conservation Commission, which
was created at the urging of the Conservators in 1966. The Conservators
has since worked closely with this city commission to preserve the best
of Newton's remaining open spaces and to guide development to adequately
provide for environmental concerns. To this end, the city has accepted
bequests of land, taken land by eminent domain, and purchased land outright
for parks and conservation areas. It has also established conservation
restrictions and conservation areas on commercial and private land as
bargaining chips for special permits. The Commission has made productive
use of Newton's Floodplain/Watershed Protection Ordinance of 1971 to
restrict the development of wetlands so that they are preserved for
wildlife and flood control.
In 1973, the Planning Committee of the Newton Board
of Aldermen requested that the Conservation Commission make a
study of the remaining open land in the city and establish priorities
for possible acquisition. The Conservators Open Space Committee made
an independent survey and the close agreement between their findings
served to strengthen the arguments for an outstanding program of land
acquisition by the city in subsequent years.
The Newton Conservators have always relied on public
education as a means of promoting its programs. A regularly appearing
newsletter was created early in its history to inform its members of
projects, issues, activities, threats to open spaces and how each person
can help. Environmental education within the schools has been of particular
concern. The summer Environmental Science Program for junior high and
high school students was begun in 1967 as a joint project with the Newton
School Department and the Conservation Commission. Since the program's
beginning, the Newton Conservators has given yearly scholarships and
supporting funds, and supported the program fully between 1975 and 1981.
Recently it established a grants program to provide funding for envrionmental
science projects in Newton's high schools.
In 1981, the Conservators published Visit Your Parks
, a map locating the city's public open spaces with detail maps of the
individual parks and conservation areas depicting the walking trails.
(An updated version of this popular publication
was published in 2003.)
