Where to live
“Let us live in the land of the whispering trees,
Alder and aspen and poplar and birch,
Singing our prayers in a pale, sea-green breeze,
With star-flower rosaries and moss banks for church.’’
-- From “For C.W.B., by Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979). The celebrated poet was born in Worcester and often summered in North Haven, Maine, after she became famous.
Elizabeth Bishop’s summer house, on the island of North Haven, Maine. This Wikipedia entry is a pretty good description of North Haven:
”In the 1880s, the island was discovered by ‘rusticators,’ seasonal residents first from Boston, then followed a decade or two later by others from New York and Philadelphia. North Haven is best known today for its sizable summer colony of prominent Northeasterners, particularly Boston Brahmins, drawn to the island for over a century to savor its simple way of life. Among the more notable summer residents was the impressionist painter Frank Weston Benson, who rented the Wooster Farm as a summer home and painted several notable canvases set on the island.’’
"Summer" (1909), by Frank Weston Benson
'Homely as a house'
”A moose has come out of
the impenetrable wood
and stands there, looms, rather,
in the middle of the road.
It approaches; it sniffs at
the bus’s hot hood.
Towering, antlerless,
high as a church,
homely as a house
(or, safe as houses).
A man’s voice assures us
Perfectly harmless....”
— From “The Moose,’’ by celebrated poet Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), who was born in Worcester and died in Boston
Photo by Beeblebrox
Another New England college now calls itself a university
Main entrance to Assumption University
From The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com)
“Assumption University, in Worcester, celebrates its new university status with a new Alma Mater sign.
“Assumption University invited the entire community to its virtual unveiling ceremony, which included a Mass and debut of the Alma Mater, following a performance from the Assumption University Chorale. The ceremony marked the formal transition from college the university.
“We are pleased the Commonwealth has affirmed our belief that Assumption is a comprehensive institution with exemplary undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs,” said College President Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D. “Despite the challenges facing the higher education industry, through the devoted and energetic work of many throughout the campus community, we find ourselves at the cusp of yet another significant moment in the storied history of this institution that was founded in 1904 by the Augustinians of the Assumption.”
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With the transition from Assumption College to Assumption University this year, Assumption reorganized into five schools: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Grenon School of Business, School of Nursing, School of Health Professions and School of Graduate Studies.
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Two well known New England universities — Dartmouth College and Boston College — stubbornly resist dropping “College” for “University.’’
Dining in the field
McCoy Stadium when they still played baseball there
— Photo by Meegs
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
On July 24, a bunch of us celebrated a friend’s birthday with dinner at a table in the middle of the field at McCoy Stadium, home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, which of course is decamping for Worcester. The stands have been eerily empty in this COVID-closed season but there were lots of widely separated but fully occupied tables at what has been turned into a very nice reservation-only, open-air restaurant this crazy summer. Luscious lobster- salad sandwiches, by the way. And the birthday girl was honored on the giant screen. I’ve been to McCoy many times but was again surprised by how big it seems for a Minor League team.
It had been a hot day, but a nice breeze over the grass kept us comfortable and then we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. For some reason, McCoy has superb sunsets.
I felt a pang knowing that professional baseball will probably never again be played at McCoy, which more likely than not will be torn down. We always found a PawSox home game a very nice outing for out-of-towners; foreigners seemed to especially enjoy it.
I’m getting a tour soon of the “WooSox” site, where the Polar Park stadium (named after the Worcester-based seltzer company), is going up; I’ll report back. Will pandemic problems prevent it from opening on schedule next spring?
Maybe some day professional baseball will return to Rhode Island; it certainly has the population density and location to be attractive for a sports team. (I have always thought that the most interesting and dramatic place for a Rhode Island baseball stadium would have been on Bold Point, in East Providence.)
The biggest question may be: How popular will baseball be in coming years compared to other sports? Is it too late to turn McCoy into a soccer stadium?
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The death on July 29 of Lou Schwechheimer from COVID-19 has saddened many people. Lou was the longtime vice president and general manager of the PawSox during the club’s heyday under the ownership of the late Ben Mondor. Lou, working with Mr. Mondor and Mike Tamburro, then the club’s president and now vice chairman, turned the organization into one of the most successful teams in Minor League Baseball.
I encountered Lou many times, and his presence was a tonic. He seemed to have endless supplies of energy, enthusiasm, ingenuity and good humor. He had a memorable capacity for making and keeping friends and boosting the community that the PawSox entertained for so many years.
Using saliva for COVID-19 testing
UMass Memorial Medical Center, In Worcester
— Photo by Cxw1044
From The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com
“The University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, in Worcester, has begun testing on a new form of test for COVID-19, using saliva instead of a nasal swab. The pilot program will be in use for testing units on UMass Memorial’s University Campus and Memorial Campus while other locations will continue to use nasal swabs. UMass Memorial has also started to shift care back towards a more normal operations, after dedicating numerous beds and personnel to coronavirus over the last several months. Read more here. ‘‘
Urban, but less so
Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, in Worcster
Photo by Truthanado
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Some people are deciding, with the impetus of COVID-19 and, perhaps, recent public protests, to move out of big cities such as Boston. I suppose most of them will move to the sprawl and car culture of the suburbs. But I think that some others will move to smaller cities not far away from the big ones to try to keep some of the benefits of urban life, such as the proximity of services, cultural institutions and so on.
In southern New England that would include Providence, Worcester and New Haven, all of which, whatever their flaws, have many lovely neighborhoods, cultural assets, some dating back to their 19th Century economic apogees and some to the (incomplete) urban renaissances of the past couple of decades. Even troubled Hartford has many attractions. Then there’s the too often overlooked New London, with its colleges and dramatic location on Long Island Sound and the Thames River and ferry service to the East End of Long Island. And there are gorgeous old towns nearby.
I look forward to seeing what kind of inter-urban migration develops over the next year or two.
It might be considered a bit ghoulish at this point for smaller cities to try to recruit residents from the big metros but I’m sure it can be done politely.
Bittersweet in jeans at Holy Cross
“1980 In My Calvins’’ ( recycled denim and thread), by Murphy Grady, in the College of the Holy Cross’s (in Worcester)2020 Senior Concentration Seminar Exhibition, moved online by COVID-19.
The exhibit is titled "énouement," chosen by the students to represent the bittersweet feeling of having arrived at the future and wishing to tell one's past self what that future would entail.
Anguish in Worcester
Worcester’s long-gone Brinley Hall, built in 1836-37, and where the speech referenced below was given. The first National Women’s Rights Convention was held there on Oct. 26 -27, 1850. 1,000 people from 11 states attended.
Abby Kelley Foster
“Man is wronged, not in London, New York, or Boston alone. Look around you here in Worcester, and see him sitting amidst the dust of his counting room, or behind the counter, his whole soul engaged in dollars and cents, until the Multiplication Table becomes his creed, his Pater noster, and his Decalogue. Society says, keep your daughters, like dolls, in the parlor; they must not do anything to aid in supporting the family. But a certain appearance in society must be maintained. You must keep up the style of the household. You are in fault if your wife do not uphold the condition to which she was bred in her father's house. I put this before men. If we could look under and within the broadcloth and the velvet, we should find as many breaking hearts, and as many sighs and groans, and as much of mental anguish, as we find in the parlor, as we find in the nursery of any house in Worcester. But woman is vain and frivolous, and man is ignorant; and therefore, he is what he is. Had his daughters, had his wife, been educated to feel their responsibilities, they would have taken their rights, and he would have been a happy and contented man, and would not have been reduced to the mere machine for calculating and getting money he now is.’’
From speech by women’s rights advocate and abolitionist Abby Kelley Foster at the first National Women’s Rights Convention.
This was Mrs Foster’s surprisingly grand home in Worcester. It’s still a private residence.
Gray matter
“Dance in Charcoal,’’ by Jo Ellen Reinhardt, co-founder of The New England School of Fine Art, in Worcester.
With COVID-19 having temporarily closed her school, she has started creating YouTube videos to keep teaching.
Update from New England Council on region's response to COVID-19 crisis
Headquarters building of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain, in Quincy, Mass. The company is donating food to health-care workers.
Update from The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com):
As our region and our nation continue to grapple with the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, The New England Council is using our blog as a platform to highlight some of the incredible work our members have undertaken to respond to the outbreak. Each day, we’ll post a round-up of updates on some of the initiatives underway among council members throughout the region. We are also sharing these updates via our social media, and encourage our members to share with us any information on their efforts so that we can be sure to include them in these daily round-ups.
You can also check our COVID-19 Virtual Events Calendar for information on upcoming COVID-19 related programming – including Congressional town halls and webinars presented by NEC members.
Here is the April 2 roundup:
Medical Response
Northeastern University Models Used in White House Response to Virus – The White House coronavirus response team has been using models produced by the Network Science Institute (NSI) at Northeastern University to project how varying mitigation strategies could “flatten the curve” of COVID-19. The models allow policymakers and members of the response team to visualize the effects of policies being considered, such as specific travel restrictions and staggered school closings. Read more.
Boston Scientific Begins Work to Produce Ventilators, Protective Equipment – To confront the growing need for medical equipment, Boston Scientific is collaborating with public and private partners to bring necessary devices to market. From making more affordable and portable ventilators to producing face shields and reusable protective equipment, the company continues to use innovation to address some of the most pressing problems facing healthcare workers. Read more.
Abiomed Expands Remote Training for Medical Providers – Medical device manufacturer Abiomed is expanding its utilization of its online physician community to provide expanded physician education and training. The company has plans to launch its largest interactive educational site in its history in April. More information can be found here.
Economic/Business Continuity Response
Proctor & Gamble Increases Production During Crisis – In the wake of shortages of some of its most common products—including napkins, paper towels, and diapers—P&G has increased production of all paper goods at its factories. The company is also manufacturing face masks to help alleviate the increasing demand of protective equipment. USA Today has more.
M&T Bank Provides Hardship Assistance – M&T Bank has created an impact form for its clients to identify their need for a variety of assistance options, including late fee suppression and changes to loan payment plans. In addition to case-by-case measures, the bank is offering unsecured personal loans, suspending negative credit reporting, and more. More information can be found here.
Community Response
Stop & Shop Donates Daily Meals to Healthcare Workers, $500,000 for Research – Using its expansive food production and delivery network, Stop & Shop (owned by Ahold Delhaize) will provide 5,000 meals daily to health-care providers in the greater New York City and Boston areas. In addition to the daily meals, the grocer is providing $500,000 to Boston Children’s Hospital for research on a potential vaccine. Read the press release here.
DraftKings Announces New Charity Initiative, $500,000 Donation – DraftKings has created its own charity initiative, #DKRally, to mobilize sports fans to donate to relief efforts. In addition to an initial $500,000 donation, the betting service will match up to a total of $1 million from contributors. The donations to the initiative will be distributed to United Way to support relief efforts across the country. US Betting Report has more.
Holy Cross Student-Run Nonprofit Raises Over $23,000 for Response Fund – Working for Worcester, a student-run nonprofit founded at the College of the Holy Cross, has raised more than $23,000 for the Worcester Together COVID-19 emergency response fund. The money was raised in just five days as part of a blitz from the school’s alumni and students. The Worcester Together fund provides money for immediate needs and to support local community organizations. The Worcester Business Journal
Stay tuned for more updates each day, and follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates on how Council members are contributing to the response to this global health crisis.
The same old, cold day
“The waiting room was bright
and too hot. It was sliding
beneath a big black wave,
another, and another.
“Then I was back in it.
The War was on. Outside,
in Worcester, Massachusetts,
were night and slush and cold
and it was still the fifth
of February, 1918.’’
— From “In the Waiting Room,’’ by Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79)
Three deckers on Houghton Street, Worcester.
American Steel & Wire Company, c. 1905, employer of about 5,000 during Worcester’s industrial heyday.
Betting on soccer's future
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
It’s important to remember that Fortuitous Partners’ plan to build a soccer stadium as a key part of a $400 million mixed-use project is not necessarily based on the current audience for soccer in southeastern New England as much as where it might be in five or ten years. While Major League Baseball’s audience has been slipping, professional soccer is clearly growing, and various factors, including the love of soccer in various national and ethnic groups, make this growth likely to continue or even accelerate. It is, after all, the leading world sport.
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The Worcester Business Journal reports that more that over half of that city’s renters want to move to another city. Quoting Renter Migration Report, it cited Boston, at 43 percent, as the top destination for Worcester refugees. Providence – embarrassingly? -- came in a very distant second, at 4.3 percent, and the old mill town of Norwich, Conn., at 4.2 percent. Ah, the magnetism of New England’s only world city! But maybe the WooSox will hold back a few of these dissatisfied residents.
Big public projects
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Publicly funded projects such as that in and around the Worcester Red Sox’s pending Polar Park Stadium, involving a taxpayer commitment of $132 million, up $9.4 million from the previous estimate, tend to create metastasizing tax breaks. Consider that Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus now wants additional tax breaks for private developers in the WooSox district, in this latest case for a 15-year tax break for a building near the ballpark’s left field and for a residential building, and a 10-year tax break for an office, labs and retail complex.
Maybe these projects will indirectly create long-term tax-revenue streams for the city in the form of more economic development and new property-tax revenue nearby -- and maybe not. Depends a lot on how the economic cycle goes in this new decade. In any case, taxpayers should remember that the taxes the developers aren’t paying other taxpayers will have to offset.
All this is part of the vision for a total of $125 million in private development next to Polar Park.
Stadium-construction projects usually turn out well for rich team owners and associated developers, but generally not – at least economically -- for the general taxpaying public. That isn’t to say that having a baseball team in town won’t make plenty of people feel better, at least for a while, especially if the team wins more than it loses and spawns stars that head for the Major Leagues.]
For more information, please hit these links:
https://www.wbjournal.com/article/worcester-seeking-more-tax-breaks-for-woosox-related-development
https://www.golocalprov.com/news/leading-stadium-expert-blasts-worcester-for-polar-park-cost-overruns
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Field house and pump station built by the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration in Scituate, Mass., in 1938
But public projects can be immensely useful and profitable for the general public. Consider the bridges, roads, tunnels schools, post offices, parks, etc., built in the New Deal – a lot of them still serving the public. They were, in general, very well built. But America’s public infrastructure has been falling apart for decades, damaging our quality of life and making America less economically competitive. When he was running for president, Trump promised to start rebuilding our infrastructure. Instead, he pushed for big tax cuts for the rich.
A presidential candidate who can credibly promise to lead that rebuilding, with many well-paying jobs included, would have a very strong issue in this year’s election.
Getting off before the mountains
On the Massachusetts Turnpike in skidding season
“Once, just west of Framingham on the Worcester Turnpike or Route 9 in Massachusetts, I caught a ride in a truck that had worn brakes. The driver, a jolly red-nosed individual with a white beard who could have passed as Santa Claus, suggested that I might want to get out considering the situation regarding the truck’s brakes. Not wanting to turn down a ride in the middle of the night, I rode it out with the driver. Going uphill was all right, but coming down was decidedly hairy. The driver knew what he was doing and used his engine to slow himself down, but he had to depend on his emergency brake if he wanted to, or had to, stop. At one traffic light, which was on a downhill slope, he couldn’t bring his rig to a stop and just blew through the intersection, horn blowing, weaving past the cross traffic. …. He relied on his loud air horn, which sounded even louder in the dark of night. Fun was fun and eventually we got to Worcester, where I was glad to get off in one piece. I hope that he got his load to where it was going, but I knew that the farther west on Route 9 he went, the more mountainous the terrain would become and I didn’t want any part of that. Besides, this was where I needed to get off. My next leg would take me through Sturbridge and then on to Connecticut.’’
― Captain Hank Bracker, from his book Seawater One
Better than driving on Route 146, especially in winter
Woonsocket train depot
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Let’s hope that Boston Surface Rail Co. can settle its dispute with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation over the company’s use of the historic train depot (built in 1882!) in Woonsocket and be able to start passenger rail service (and bus service to supplement it) between that city and Worcester sometime next year. It would be one of America’s first private passenger rail companies since the creation of quasi-public Amtrak, in 1971.
The service would be a boon to those who want to stay off crowded Route 146, in the Providence-Worcester corridor, and serve an area now with very thin public transportation. And consider that huge CVS is based in Woonsocket; more than a few of its employees would be happy to use public transportation.
Remember that Greater Providence is the second-largest metro area in New England, after Boston, and Worcester proper the second-largest city; Providence proper is the third-largest.
Anything to get more people off the roads between Greater Providence and Worcester would he most appreciated! The service would be particularly appreciated in the winter: The area crossed by Route 146, being fairly high (by New England standards) and well inland, gets lots of snow most winters.
Boston Surface Rail asserts that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has been difficult to deal with. RIDOT should prioritize improving non-car travel in this important corridor. Why is it that it seems so difficult to get new projects launched in the Ocean State?
To read GoLocal’s story on this, please hit this link.
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Building a Worcester theatre district
The Hanover Theatre entrance. Photo of interior below.
From The England Council (newenglandcouncil.com)
Bank of America has donated $250,000 to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, in Worcester, to build an outdoor theater. The bank has been a long time benefactor of the theatre and will have the honor of naming the new outdoor plaza next to it.
Bank of America’s generous donation brings the Hanover Theatre closer to achieving its goal of transforming its neighborhood into Worcester’s Theatre District. The $250,000 donation comes in collaboration with the City’s Main Street Reimagined project to restore the street’s public space, including new sidewalks, traffic lights, lighting fixtures and more. Hanover Theatre President and CEO Troy Siebels has prioritized a strong collaborative relationship with the City of Worcester and their respective downtown projects.
“The Hanover Theatre touches well over a quarter million patrons every year and is a staple in the local arts community,” said Ed Shea, Bank of America’s Central Massachusetts market president. “In addition to the positive impact that performing arts has on the community, the improvements to the theater also play an important role in the rebirth of downtown Worcester.”
Will they get a cut rate on billboard ads?
From The New England Council (newenglanddiary.com)
Polar Beverages’ CEO Ralph Crowley Jr. will become part owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox as the team prepares for a 2021 move to Worcester. Polar Beverages has been operating in Worcester since 1882.
The PawSox announced Crowley’s ownership at the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new Polar Park stadium. The ballpark has been designed to seat over 10,000 visitors and is expected to host various year-round events. In addition to minor league baseball games, the City of Worcester plans to take advantage of the new facility for road races, collegiate/high school sporting events, concerts, firework displays, and more. The stadium has become the center of a public-private redevelopment project of Worcester’s Canal District.
Worcester’s City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. saw the groundbreaking of the park to be “a special moment in Worcester’s history — a line of demarcation separating Worcester before Polar Park and Worcester after Polar Park.”
Advancing ballpark tech in Worcester
Rendering of Polar Park.
From The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com):
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the Pawtucket Red Sox have announced a partnership to advance ballpark technology once the team moves to Worcester, in 2021. This partnership will provide the new Polar Park in Worcester with the latest technology.
WPI students will work on projects to modernize the game experience, such as mobile apps for ordering food, technology to assist with finding parking, or special seating for those with sensory challenges. The partnership will also make the school the team’s official academic technology advisor through the 2023 baseball season.
The president of WPI, Laurie Leshin, commented, “As Worcester’s hometown technological university, WPI shares the club’s vision and opportunity for Polar Park: to create a versatile regional sports venue that combines a traditional ballpark environment with modern, smart, and connect amenities.”
Larry Lucchino, principal owner and chairman of the Pawtucket Red Sox, said, “One of the many appealing assets in Worcester is WPI, a world-class technology leader. . . We have long sought this collaboration to help this ballpark be innovative as well as friendly and beautiful. We look forward to WPI’s participation on the key technology fronts.’
An end to a suicidal Worcester intersection?
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary’’, in GoLocal24.com
Maybe something especially good (maybe even saving lives!) will come out of construction of a stadium in downtown Worcester to house what’s now called the Pawtucket Red Sox: It will apparently eliminate Kelley Square, perhaps the most dangerous and confusing intersection in Massachusetts. To read a darkly humorous Globe article on this, please hit this link.
To see a video, please hit this link.
In 2 old cities, the triumph of hope over experience
“View of Springfield, Massachusetts, on the Connecticut River’’ (oil on canvas), circa 1840-45, by Thomas Chambers, as seen at the Springfield Metropolitan Museum of Art. .
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
I wonder what lower-income people in Worcester think of U.S. Census data that show that the median income for Worcester households fell nearly 6 percent last year even as plans were being solidified by the city to spend a fortune to help build a baseball stadium for the bunch of very rich businessmen who own the Pawtucket Red Sox. Given the record of Minor and Major League stadiums built over the last couple of decades, it seems unlikely that the “Woosox’’ stadium will make things better for the city’s poorer residents.
Worcester’s unemployment rate is only about 5 percent but many of those jobs, as around America, pay poorly and/or are part-time. Indeed, the very low official U.S. unemployment rate masks the fact that many people have dropped out of the workforce because of low wages that don’t keep up with inflation.
A large factory being built in the city would be far better news than a facility, like a baseball stadium, employing only a couple of dozen full-time jobs, if that. Hard to believe now that the city was once sort of the Pittsburgh of New England!
In other parts of the bread-and-circuses industry, we have the newly opened MGM casino in Springfield, Mass. Despite the hoopla, this facility, which will drain money from the region to send to investors, isn’t doing that well.
Consider that the slot-machine take at this full-service (table games, slots and “resort hotel”) scam is about the same as at the much less promoted and all-slots Plainridge Park, in Plainville. Will the commonwealth encourage more cannibalization of this sector by permitting yet another casino to open?