Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
CONCORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Walden Pond, which thousands of people know and love, might soon look radically different.
They discussed the plan to renovate the two major aspects of the pond, those being the ramp down to the beach and the bathhouse.
“It’s incredibly steep, there’s a little bit of a rail there if someone needs to hold on to, but it’s not designed to accessibility standards,” says Tim Nickerson of the architecture firm Ray Dunetz.
Nickerson said that they plan to construct a less steep wooden ramp to replace the old one.
The other renovation will be on the bathhouse, which has not been updated since the Reagan Administration.
This new one will be in a different location in the park and made of wood and glass with an all new angular design.
The construction will cost around 10 million dollars.
The new plans were well received for the most part, but there were still some at the meeting who showed concern.
“This is a massive project that will change the entire nature of Walden Pond,” said Jan from the virtual meeting audience. “On top of that, were trying to keep the footprint of the existing bathhouse, so hey let’s add a few more buildings.”
DCR wanted to ensure everyone that they are trying to maintain the pond’s integrity, and they will even be planting close to 200 trees to offset the ones they will need to remove for this project.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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