USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1956-1957 > Part 27
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(g) that, for this calculation, the present proportion of the population of school age continues to hold good, that is 12% of elementary school age and 6% in the intermediate age group now, dropping to 10% and 5% in 20 years or so
(h) that while the schools should be spaced evenly for efficiency, their outer circumferences may overlap, so that readjustment of school dis- tricts can be readily rearranged from year to year
(i) and, finally, that school districts reinforce the local sense of neighborhood.
16
...
12
EVENTUAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS (and Playgrounds)
RESIDENTIAL AREA SERVED
EVENTUALLY
SEPARATE
(3)
NUMBER OF
CLASSROOMS
EXISTING OR IN PROGRESS
NEEDED NOW OR SOON
. NEEDED BEFORE 1975
O
NEEDED EVENTUALLY
NORTH
x
ABANDON WHEN FEASIBLE
GUARDED CROSSING DESIRABLE
OVERPASS
PARK (8)
SILVER LAKE (6)
GLEN (15)
X
X
SHAWSHEDN
(6-8)
X
ALDRICH
CENTRAL
(8).1:
(15)
. .
.. .
.
.
BOUTWELL (8)
WILDWOOD (15)
BUTTERS ROW (6-8)
N
WILMINGTON MASSACHUSETTS
O
1/2
I mile
NOTES : No overlaps of 1/2 mile radil; No distance over I mile, except in Northernmost area.
PLANNING AND RENEWAL ASSOCIATES
17
.
The accompanying map shows a distribution of Elementary Schools that satisfies most of the criteria set up above, with an indication of the most likely timing. The CEN- TRAL group and WILDWOOD would remain at 15 rooms; GLEN at 15 rooms would be slightly underutilized; consideration should be given to the eventual relocation or consoli- dation of Silver Lake's MILDRED ROGERS School to a site not infringing upon the beach; 8 rooms at BOUTWELL and 8 at PARK could be filled already now; SHAWSHEEN and BUTTERS ROW (6-8 rooms each) can be filled; as the western and northern areas of Wilmington grow, two more 8-room schools will be needed, at ALDRICH and at NORTH, to supplement Boutwell and Park. (An alternate possibility is expansion of BOUTWELL School to 15 rooms instead of a new school at ALDRICH). PARK will probably have to spill over into the reserve capacity at Central and Wildwood later. The total number of children (at 12% of the population) that must be accommodated when the population reaches 22,000 (1975 ?) is 2,640; the 74 rooms suggested would contain an average of 36 pupils. By the time the ultimate population of 30,000 is reached, and the proportion of elementary school children drops to 10%, 90 rooms will house 33 children each.
(b) Intermediate Schools
One intermediate school of 20 rooms can be filled immediately. In effect, that is the purpose of the 18-room addition to the high school approved by the Town in September, 1957. These rooms will, ultimately, have to be devoted to senior high school use. Another intermediate school is certainly justified by the time the population reaches 16,500, and by 1980, a third intermediate school will be necessary to serve the expected population of 25,000. These three schools should have sufficient reserve capacity to serve the ultimate population of 30,000.
The Town should acquire the sites for the other two intermediate schools as soon as possible, using them as playfields in the meantime. When the Town reaches its population capacity, a third intermediate school will undoubtedly be needed, as the high school will be fully occupied by the senior grades. For greatest convenience, the ultimate system of three intermediate schools should be evenly spaced - the permissible walking distance is 12 miles - and each near a concentration of population.
This precludes a school at the center of the equilateral triangle, i.e. near the high school site, because four sites would then be needed to "cover" the town. The first intermediate school could be located in West Wilmington, op- posite Aldrich Road on Shawsheen Avenue, where it would serve an immediate (1955) walking population of about 2,500 to 3,500 - the higher figure assumes a pedestrian underpass below the railroad which cuts off the Silver Lake district - which would rise to about 10,000 by 1980.
This would probably be the first school to reach 20-room capacity within its own walking radius, serving ultimately 12,000 people.
A school in East Wilmington, located say on Woburn Street opposite Federal Street, would be next in line, (and very soon at that), as far as the growth of its own walking population is concerned: about 3,000 now and 7,000 by 1980, with an ultimate population of about 8,000.
The North Wilmington School, for which the site already held by the Town next to the Signore development is suggested, could reach only 2,000 now, but would rise quickly to 6,000 or so by 1980, and eventually 7,000 or more. Whe- ther this school or the East Wilmington school is built first matters little as far as utility is concerned, since the extra transportation load from East Wilm- ington were the North Wilmington school built first is balanced by the proximity of the rooms in the High School temporarily still in use for intermediate pupils.
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The eventual overload on the West Wilmington School can be relieved by transferring all the bus-riding pupils from the Chestnut. Street area to the East Wilmington school.
The total populations served within walking radius of the three sites add up to 8,500 of 9,500 present in 1955; 23,000 out of the 25,000 expected in 1980 or so, and eventually 27,000 out of the 30,000 ultimate total. The remainder would still have to be transported by school bus, but are confined to the two openly- zoned areas of far north and far south Wilmington. All three schools will even- tually be needed.
The sites for these schools ought to be acquired without delay, so that they may be used as playgrounds and playfields in the meantime. The North site should be enlarged, especially if it is decided that an eventual elementary school in this area is to share the site.
(c) Organized Play Areas
Organized play is today considered an indispensable part of healthy growth and should therefore be accessible to every child every day. Requirements for younger children and older children differ as to space, equipment and proximity and are therefore discussed separately under the headings playgrounds for children of elementary school age, and playfields, for children of intermediate school age up to young adults.
Standards for playgrounds for younger children call for 1 acre per 800 persons - a minimum when one considers the high proportion of children in Wilmington - and a maximum distance of 2 mile. Sites have been chosen as part of the proposed elementary school plan, with the idea that the land may be bought and used now for a public purpose pending actual construction of the school.
Additional play lots without special equipment may be desired closer to home in some densely subdivided areas. The Town might make it a point to advise local improvement associations of the impending sale of a suitable piece of tax-title land, which the association can in turn sell off when no longer needed.
Playfields for youths and young adults aged 13-20 are an early necessity. The three suggested in conjunction with the proposed intermediate school sites in West, North and East Wilmington together with the more specialized one at the High School will serve the purpose. These need not be expensively equipped, however - the point is simply to have a large enough piece of reasonably level land within easy reach for informal, spur-of-the-moment, neighborhood athletics. Wilmington, still rich in open space, can afford to outdo the city in playfield standards. City standards call for 1 acre per 800 population, with a preferred minimum of 12 acres for purposes of design. (This is in addition to school needs.) A more detailed study of recreation needs is to be made at an early date but some further discussion of possibilities for informal recreation is also to be found below.
(d) Local Shopping and Related Parking
Purely local convenience outlets already exist in most of the areas where they are likely to be needed, the one exception being near the proposed Boutwell School. Their area should be kept small and the parking ratio high - say 1 acre of stores plus 2 to 4 of parking. The major shopping areas - that is, the "Square" and a possible highway business zone related to Route 28 - are discussed sep- arately under "Non-Residential Uses".
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EVENTUAL INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS Grades 6-8, 20 Rooms, Each ยท School With Playfield
AREA WITHIN I MILE (MAX. WALK = 11/2 MILES)
PROPOSED SCHOOLS IN LIKELY. ORDER OF USE
H.S.
SITE ALREADY RESERVED HIGH SCHOOL
RECOMMENDED PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS
2
NORTH
/
1
H.S.
WEST
3
EAST
N
WILMINGTON MASSACHUSETTS
0 1/2
I mile
PLANNING AND RENEWAL ASSOCIATES
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Special attention was paid to the local shopping and parking facilities at the North Wilmington Depot, to the possibility of an auxiliary center at Concord Street southeast of the railroad crossing, and to the facilities at Silver Lake, on Main Street. The amount of parking needed for each area up to 1980, when the total population is expected to reach 25,000, was estimated in relation to the probable number of people to be served locally. The sites were inspected on the ground, and a general location for the proposed parking is suggested in each case, with zoning modifications where desirable. The space standards used for local shopping are those developed in "Planning the Neighborhood" (American Public Health Association, Committee on the Hygiene of Housing, Standards for Healthful Housing, 1948) which are still valid today. The special Parking Study memorandum gives figures and plans in greater detail.
(1) North Wilmington - No auxiliary shopping at Concord Street:
About 2,000 people are served now, and about 7,000 may be expected by 1980. Two thousand people require 52,500 sq. ft., of which 14,000 sq. ft. is in shops and the rest in parking and circulation. For 7,000 people, the total area needed would be about 4.2 acres. To this must be added in both cases the all-day parking for the depot, (assuming that cars meeting the train can find free space in the regular parking lot). Present experience suggests the need for 25 spaces or 5,000 sq. ft. now. With Route 28 so near, fewer will ride in the trains so that 11,000 sq. ft. is probably enough in 1980. For the present, the area northeast of the crossing is adequate. By 1980, allowing a deduction of 24,000 for the gas station existing in the northwest quadrant, 163,000 sq. ft. are needed and would absorb most of both the northeast and southeast quadrants. Alternatively, the northeast quadrant commercial strip could be deepened to 400' and so accommodate the full needs.
If the station and all future shopping for the area remain here, it is recommended that the northeast quadrant commercial zone be deepened to 400' and the southeast quadrant rezoned for residential, because: (a) the facts that Middlesex Avenue is both narrow and busy at that point and that cars frequently stack up due to trains stopped across the intersection re- quire that all parking and interfering movements be kept off this street, and this is most easily done by confining all such movement to one quadrant of the three; (b) of the three, the northeast quadrant is on the right side of the railroad and of the street for most customers and when the present depot- building is removed, it will also offer the most buildable area. Deepening the zone to 400' would accomplish two things: allow a deep set-back for the stores with off-street parking and pull the depot far enough away from the intersection to allow the train to stop without blocking the intersection.
In the interests of future expansion of the stores, it is recommended that they be laid out to run parallel to the tracks, with the parking lot run- ning back to correspond. Since this serves a captive market and is not a trap for passers-by, direct window frontage on Middlesex Avenue is of minor importance compared to the other amenities gained by development at right angles to the street. Existing stores in the southeast quadrant can of course remain even when this is re-zoned for residential, although they cannot be replaced.
(2) North Wilmington - with auxiliary shopping at Concord Street:
This assumes that the railroad depot and the post office have been moved to the latter. Present customers nearer North Wilmington than to Concord Street would amount to about 1,000, and future customers to about 4,000. The shopping area required would then run from 33,800 sq. ft. to 112,500 sq. ft. The northeast quadrant will do for now, since station park- ing will have been moved to Concord Street. The actual parking area re-
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quired now is 18,000 sq. ft., rising to 44,000 sq. ft. in the future. For the same reasons set forth above, it is recommended that the southeast quad- rant be re-zoned for residential use. Increasing the depth of the commer- cial zone in the northeast quadrant to 230' will meet parking needs. Store buildings will have enough room for expansion even if running parallel to Middlesex Avenue.
(3) Concord Street Shopping Center (southeast of railroad crossing):
Note: This calculation does not include service to outside shoppers from Routes 28 and 62, but does suppose that the area includes the depot. There are about 1,000 persons in the vicinity now, but this would rise to 5,000 by 1980. Making the same assumptions for station parking as for North Wilmington, the total space needed is 38,000 sq. ft. now and 134,000 sq. ft. by 1980.
There is now a business zone of about 4.3 acres along Concord Street. Only about 3 acres of this is buildable, however. This area is all cut-over land, now belonging to the Trask Lumber Company, but otherwise vacant, and is sufficient to cover present and foreseeable needs. In the interests of more compact building design and more generous parking standards, however, especially if this catches on as a site for a supermarket, it is recommended that the zone be deepened to 300'.
(4) Silver Lake Shopping Center
About 3,000 now live within the trading area of Silver Lake, and another 1,000 from Tewksbury probably also find it convenient. In the future, ano- ther 2,000 may be expected, ignoring any increase in Tewksbury customers. The space required now for 4,000 is 2.6 acres and required eventually for 6,000 will be 3.6 acres.
Zoning on one side only of the street is recommended both in order to forestall constant jaywalking between stores on both sides of busy Main Street, and in order to simplify traffic movements. The west side is pre- ferred, because two out of three customers can reach it without crossing Main Street and because the lots can run deeper than on the east side, where the land drops off to a brook.
Allowing the zoning on the opposite side of Main Street to revert to residential use, the area zoned for business on the west side plus the Wil- liams Street corner can satisfy requirements for now but not for the future, when an additional acre will be needed. It is recommended that the com- mercial zone between Grove Avenue and the Lake be deepened to about 360' from the intersection with Main Street.
A consolidated public parking lot may be built immediately between Main Street and the Lake, and this area will take care of present parking needs not now met by individual stores. The lot may in addition be squared off a bit by filling, when demand justifies the expense. An outlet to Grove Avenue should definitely be provided in order to relieve Main Street. Added parking needed in the future should be provided by the stores themselves at a minimum parking-to-floor ratio of one to one.
3. TOWN-WIDE SERVICES
By this is meant facilities which are not repeated in each neighborhood but are to be used by the Town as a whole. Such facilities may be grouped into three categories, those
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PROPOSED PARKING
RETAINED OR PROPOSED NB ZONE
PROPOSED PARKING
POSSIBLE SHOPS
NORTH WILMINGTON SHOPS
POSSIBLE DEPOT
NEW OR
IM -
SILVER LAKE SHOPS
PROVED STREET
SWAMP
LANDSCAPED
...
first stage parking
SILVER LAKE BEACH
beach
C
3003
expanded parking
CONCORD ST. DEPOT, P.O. & SHOPS
N
WILMINGTON MASSACHUSETTS 1/2
I mile
(NOTE. See Special Memorandum for Detaila)
PLANNING AND RENEWAL ASSOCIATES
23
(a) tied to population - e.g. the Town Hall, Police Headquarters, Fire Depart- ment Stations, MDC sewerage
(b) tied to site requirements - e.g. the Town Garage and Town Dump
(c) tied to topography - well fields and informal recreation.
A special map of tax-title lands was prepared and studied with these needs in mind. It so happens that there are no substantial tax-title lands suitable for school locations or parking, but on the other hand, quite a few such parcels are usable for one or another of the necessary Town-wide services.
(a) Population-Centered Services
(1) Public Buildings, such as a new Town Hall and new Police Headquarters should be as near the center of population as possible. The "center of grav- ity" of both the present and future population lies along Church Street be- tween Main Street and Wildwood Avenue. From the point of view of conven- ience to citizens on multiple errands and of presence of parking facilities for evening meetings, a location within the major shopping center at Wilm- ington - north of the intersection of Main Street and Church Street - would be ideal. Since that is the section to be physically reorganized under the Urban Renewal Program, Wilmington has an opportunity not only to solve the knotty problems of space for commercial expansion and parking, but also to create a center in which the Town can take pride.
(2) Fire Department requirements are slightly different in that sub-stations are needed in addition to the existing central building, in order to reduce the travel time to outlying parts of Town. In time, one sub-station will be needed in North Wilmington (especially subject to brush fires) and another in West Wilmington, a fast-growing section now frequently cut off from the central station by freight trains crossing at grade and inadequate railroad overpasses. One possible site is shown on Ill. 15. Proposals to correct defects in circulation are described under that heading.
(b) Site-Oriented Services
(1) A new Town Dump is urgently needed. A new location site must be found that is accessible to the residents and yet not a nuisance to them, nor an eyesore, with enough dry land to permit use of the sanitary fill method, or enough water to control fires, if the continuous-fire method is used in- stead. There is a large tax-title lot on the Woburn line on the edge of a leveled-off gravel pit that can satisfy all these requirements. It is also es- pecially convenient for the disposal of industrial wastes.
(2) The location for a new Town Garage is dictated by two requirements: geographic centrality, so that maintenance trucks and snowplows can be sent on efficient round trips with a minimum of duplicated travel, and avoidance of dense residential areas, so that nearby homes are not dis- turbed by the constant in-and-out of heavy vehicles. The choice here lies between two sites, both free; in the rear of Wildwood Cemetery, or on that unused part of the Town Park northeast of the tracks. The first is more central, the second is handy to the most-traveled roads and has no resi- dential neighbors - but could also be sold to industry.
(c) Topography-Bound Services
(1) Well-fields will be needed as part of the program for the increase of water supplies. The location recommended for these will not be known until
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completion of the report of the U. S. Water Resources study charting the ancient bed of the Merrimack River.
(2) Informal Recreation Areas are also tied to the character of the land. Wilmington is blessed with a variety of possibilities appealing to both old and young, - for instance beaches, picnic areas, fishing streams and wild- life preserves, bridle paths, camping areas and skating ponds. To pre- serve them, however, takes foresight.
Swimming in Silver Lake is a priceless summer asset. The beach area needs ex- pansion now. Eventually, it should include the Rogers School area, when this is replaced, as recommended elsewhere in this report. It also needs parking space, the location of which is complicated by the necessity of maintaining Grove Avenue to service the resi- dential areas west of the lake. Some of this parking may be provided along the beach, but the growth of population and ever-increasing use of the lake will require additional parking between Grove Avenue and the railroad. Here it would be possible to park in the shade and picnic near the car rather than adding to the beach clutter. An area of 52 acres would al- low parking, picnicing and shade trees for ultimately 500 cars - not an exaggerated goal in view of an eventually doubled population plus reserve for some paying non-resident visi- tors. Ample beach and parking facilities enhanced by good landscape design can, together with strict code enforcements, do much to arrest and even reverse the decline of the sur- rounding neighborhood. The beach is a community resource and Wilmington should make the most of it.
A beach at Fosters Pond has also been suggested, but the Pond is too shallow there for easy use and in any case almost all would have to drive across town to reach it and might as well drive another few miles to the Pond in the Harold Parker State Forest. Still, a public landing for canoers and swimmers from Camp 40-Acres would be an asset; the shore space required is small and need not necessarily be within Town Boundaries.
The banks of fishing streams should be left in a state of nature and accessible to all - perhaps by prohibition of building within a certain distance from the river, perhaps by acquisition of a public right of way. Such rights of way could also serve as bridle paths for the several riding clubs now functioning. In particular, tax-title land along rivers stocked with fish, or rivers that may later be dredged (Massachusetts House Document #2391) has a potential recreational value for the community far outweighing its slight re- sale value. Here acreage is less important than linear continuity. There are a number of such lots in East Wilmington, along the Ipswich River and behind the High School. While dredging may eventually drain them, they will remain subject to occasional flooding and so are not suitable for building lots.
There is an especially large tax-title lot straddling the Ipswich River at the Burl- ington town line which can be held as a wild-life refuge, if the variety of animal life bears out this idea. It is also possible that the designation of potential well-field areas may in- clude this lot. A part of the lot is buildable and can be sold, but enough should be reserved for a pumping-station or recreational building, as the case may be.
Cranberry bogs and other swampy areas commonly used for skating - a sport with an exceptionally long season and tradition in Wilmington - might well be under option to the Town. There are also three improved skating areas - at the High School, the private club off Butters Row and the newly developed Rotary Park. This latter might well become Wilmington's ornamental center in the urban renewal scheme, and should be accepted by the Town. Taken all together, recreational use of the features - rivers, swamps and hills - which separate the neighborhoods can transform them into factors that unify the Town.
4. CIRCULATION
There are a number of elements to be considered in intertown travel: personal transport by railroad, air and highway; freight transport by box-car or truck.
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15
1
SUGGESTED LOCATIONS For TOWN-WIDE SERVICES
NEW BUILDING
RETAINED BUILDING
( ABANDONED or CONVERTED BUILDING )
TOWN OWNED SITE
PROPOSED URBAN RENEWAL AREA
NOTE: Recreation lands will be shown in a later study.
SALEM ST.
( DUMP)
.
.
(TOWN HALL)
AUX. FIRE STA.
WEST
E
AVE.
CHURCH ST.
FEDERAL
9
GARAGE ?
MAIN FIRE STATION
TOWN HALL and POLICE
.
N
WILMINGTON MASSACHUSETTS
MAIN ST.
O V/2 I mile
DUMP
PLANNING AND RENEWAL ASSOCIATES
--
SHAWSHE
proposed new overpass
GARAGE !
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(a) Railroad: The Boston and Maine station at the Square and the North Wilm- ington depot will continue to be a great convenience even though more and more people prefer to drive. The B & M is well aware of the tight box its present station is in and would surely welcome proposals to enlarge its parking under the Urban Renewal Program for the Square. As to the North Wilmington depot, there is no obstacle to its transfer elsewhere, since the railroad no longer owns any building connected with it. The railroad tracks themselves are all essential parts of the B & M network and must be re- garded as permanent, although the freight line between the Square and the Lawrence branch is used only at night. There is ample opportunity for freight sidings in industrial areas along both the Lawrence and Lowell lines, and about 13 shippers now receive freight regularly.
(b) Airports: Air transportation is not an issue in Wilmington. The Logan, Bedford and Lawrence airports are all within easy driving radius. There is also a turf landing-strip for private planes next door in Tewksbury.
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