Exploring Western Massachusetts: Westfield

Showing posts with label Westfield. Show all posts

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Westfield's Municipal Building Gets a Facelift

A century and a score since its dedication as a State Normal School on June 21, 1892, the building that has housed the city of Westfield's Municipal offices from the late 1950s on is getting a well-deserved facelift. Scaffolding has wrapped the tired edifice in its promising embrace, anon dismantled to reveal a relic's rejuvenated skin, a face for the future. 'Tis a welcome sight, a work site worthy of the first Westfield structure to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, that distinctive date occurring on March 8, 1978.

Built at a cost of $150,000 to replace the old facility on Washington Street, the Commonwealth stretched about six and a half decades out of its investment before cramped and thoroughly antiquated quarters ("archaic" according to the eyes of Massachusetts Governor Paul A. Dever in 1951, on campus to speak at the June 23rd commencement ceremony) forced the decision and drive to move onto bigger and better things, an educational expansion that would one day transform a city wood known as Juniper Park into today's bustling and still-growing Westfield State University. An exchange of one dollar from Commonwealth to city secured the original 26 acre Western Avenue site of horse trails and shady glens and likewise a dollar from city to Commonwealth facilitated the purchase of the 59 Court Street structure, the agreement stipulating the building to be utilized "for municipal purposes only." Chapman Water Proofing, Inc. of Boston has been contracted to perform the current renovations at a cost of $3,400,000, a sum which would have allowed the building to be replicated another twenty times in 1892.

Granite, brick and brownstone under the cover of a slate-tiled roof, the Romanesque design - the work of Boston firm Hartwell and Richardson, established 1881 - is reminiscent of renowned architect Henry H. Richardson's style, but the two interests are indeed, separate. Although neither gained the stature of H. H. Richardson in northeastern architectural circles, many of Henry W. Walker and William C. Richardson's (and later, third partner James Driver) structural accomplishments have made their way into the National Register of Historic Places, including the town hall in Ware, Massachusetts. A local example of Henry H. Richardson's work is the old Hampden County Courthouse on State Street in Springfield.

Postmarked in wintertime Westfield of 1921 and mailed for a penny, the handsome building of higher learning - in a postcard frozen - had by then hosted nearly thirty years of students, matriculating and moving on through its double front archways, the fits and starts of a dawning age of excitement in education anchored by the stalwart's granite foundation whilst soaring peaks overhead encouraged opening minds to move above and ever beyond. Today, the edifice is Westfield's municipal anchor, a tether to the community, a well-known face passed on Court Street, finally getting a makeover.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Related links:

Postcards: Court Street, Westfield, Massachusetts ~ http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2009/03/postcards-court-street-westfield.html

Photos: Time and Water Flow, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1905 - 1920 ~ http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2007/12/photos-time-and-water-flow-springfield.html

City of Westfield, Massachusetts ~ http://www.cityofwestfield.org/

MassLive.com article, June 6, 2012, "Westfield launches school and municipal building upgrades" ~ http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/westfield_launches_school_and.html

Triennial 1839 - 1907, State Normal School, Westfield, Massachusetts ~ http://www.hampdencountyhistory.com/westfield/wn/toc.html

Map: Bird's-eye View of Westfield, Massachusetts, 1875 ~ http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2009/03/map-1875-birds-eye-of-westfield.html

Getting there, via Google maps: http://goo.gl/maps/8dmH

Friday, September 10, 2010

Amelia Park Ice Arena & Garden Celebrates Ten Years

Westfield's Amelia Park Ice Arena and Garden is one of the finest examples of personal philanthropy in Western Massachusetts. Built as a tribute to his late wife Amelia, Albert F. Ferst has created an amazing skating complex within a nearly 50,000 square foot facility, the culmination of a dream the woman affectionately known as "Millie" had held dear to her heart.

Outside the arena, Amelia's Garden graces a beautifully transformed acre of land replete with flowers and foliage, statuettes and streaming waterfalls.

Today, September 10, 2010, is Amelia Park's 10th anniversary, which is being marked with a celebration to be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. complete with cake, free skating (rentals $3), face painting and more.

For details, visit: http://ameliaparkice.org/arena-programs/special-events/10th-anniversary-celebration.html

Noble Hospital will be offering free blood pressure screening at Amelia Park during today's event. A prescription for inner peace could surely include a slow walk through the garden, likely to bring calm to even the highest-strung soul.

"Amelia Ferst was a beautiful, humble person who never looked to be

recognized for all the good deeds she did. She and her husband Albert

always saw with their hearts the needs of the community and took

every opportunity to enrich the lives of others.

This garden has been created as a loving tribute to Amelia, her vision

and her commitment to the future of Westfield and its children.

The splendor of the flowers is a reflection of her beauty.

The chirping of the birds is the sweet melody of her voice.

The soft whisper of the wind is the quiet manner in which she gave to others.

The warmth of the sun is the embrace of her love.

The springtime rebirth of the garden is her unwavering belief in God."

As the seasons change and autumn makes her entry, some colors brighten, some shades fade. All the hue and cry of nature unbound, splashed on cosmic canvas to become portraits ever-changing, memories everlasting.

There are some who walk the path whose footprints never fade.

Amelia Garden is an acre of undying love, watered and nurtured, the fruit a harvest of joy to be savored.

Sit for a bit and reflect. Let the sights and sounds carry you away in place.

Bricks fired in the kiln of the passionate heart. Mortar mixed in turning days strung together as a life well-lived. Memorials and tributes in stone, for the ages to behold. A garden is the work of a beautiful soul.

A gazebo and trellises grace the garden. Sixty-four beds of flowers masterfully maintained are individual smiles.

"Lives are filled with happiness when hearts are filled with love."

Our lives are each one of themselves a time capsule, stored in the hearts of those who would remember our passing. The world is a better place because of Amelia and Albert Ferst.

Here is a link to the Amelia Ice Arena & Garden's website:

http://ameliaparkice.org/

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Westfield Air Show This Weekend

The Blue Angels in diamond formation.

The Westfield International Air Show takes place this coming weekend, Saturday, August 21, and Sunday, August 22. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. with aerial acrobatics set to take off at 9:30 a.m. The skies will be streaked with aviation excitement until 4:30 p.m. both days. Entry is free, parking $10.

Some of the groups performing include, The Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Snow Birds and the always-awesome U. S. Army parachute team, The Golden Knights.

In addition to the more than thirty aircraft that will actively perform, there will be sixty display aircraft for air show attendees to explore at ground-level. The 104th Fighter Wing will also be hosting an open-house: A great opportunity to thank our local troops!

For more information, visit the WIAS website: http://www.westfieldairshow.net/

Event:
2010 Westfield International Air Show

Details:
Barnes Air National Guard Base
(Off) Southampton Rd. (Rtes 10 & 202)
Westfield, Mass.
August 21 - 22, 2010, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Admission Free, Parking $10

For a look at a couple of panoramic photos of the Barnes Airport area when it was used as a staging ground for troops leaving for Europe and World War I, take a look at the previous EWM post, Camp Bartlett, Westfield, Mass. (1917)

Photo source: This image from PD Photo.org has been released into the public domain by its author and copyright holder, Jon Sullivan.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Westfield's Park Square Gets a(n) (Extreme) Makeover

Elm Street, Westfield, Mass.

For better or worse, the familiar landscape of downtown Westfield is being altered in a dramatic and permanent way. A new, second bridge over the Westfield River now links the North and South sides of the city via Elm Street and Union Avenue, a modern truss twin to the original Great River Bridge, which is currently being refurbished. The railroad bridge over Main Street is coming down soon, its tracks ribbons of rust polished by nary a passing steel wheel for long years now. Water pipes that have saved many a home from flaming peril and quenched countless hot afternoon thirsts are being excavated and replaced. Traffic lanes are being widened and modified.

Perhaps the most radical and indeed, emotional, change to the center of the city, though, is the clear-cutting of all trees on the green at Park Square and the removal of decorative embellishments, including the landmark fountain. It is a circle of soil now. A blank palette on which to create the civic space of the future.

And tho' it may seem the heart and essence of the old town common may be torn asunder for good, there is a method to the marring: A plan, according to the Mayor and the powers that be. That plan and the decade-old study that led up to it can be found on the City of Westfield website here: http://www.cityofwestfield.org/detpages/departments1607.html.

The Westfield Business Improvement District website is also a great source of information, with weekly downtown traffic updates, handy for anyone planning a trip to the center. Here's the link: http://www.thedistrictwestfield.com/category/main-street-broad-street-project/.

The following photographs illustrate some of the changes that have taken place over the past two years in the Park Square area, the "before" images shot in June, 2008, the snapshots of the current state of affairs captured this past Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Looking north on Elm Street, Westfield, Mass.

Looking south on Elm St. toward Green, Westfield, Mass.

26 - 36 Elm Street, Westfield, Mass.

Corner of Elm & Main Streets, Westfield, Mass.

The Green from the corner of Elm & School Streets, Westfield, Mass.

Corner of Main & Broad Streets, Westfield, Mass.

First Congregational Church, Broad St., Westfield, Mass.

Park Square from Broad St. looking west, Westfield, Mass.

Broad Street looking south, Westfield, Mass.

The Green looking toward Westfield Atheneum, Westfield, Mass.

Old Post Office (now The Tavern restaurant), corner Main & Broad Streets, Westfield, Mass.

Main Street & railroad bridge, Westfield, Mass.

The Town Green, as it was around 1841, Westfield, Mass.

The above etching of 19th century Westfield's common area comes from the 1919 publication, 'Westfield's Quarter Millennial Anniversary Official Souvenir,' found at the Internet Archive website here: http://www.archive.org/details/westfieldsquarte00plum.

For more on the history of Westfield's Park Square, including vintage postcards, check out the previous EWM post, 'Postcards: The Green, Westfield, Massachusetts.'

For a look at the layout of 1800s Westfield from a bird's-eye point of view, visit EWM post, 'Map: Bird's-eye View of Westfield, Massachusetts, 1875.'

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Tekoa Reservoir, Montgomery, Massachusetts

Although the image preserved in this postcard from 1939 or later is captioned "Montgomery Reservoir, Westfield, Mass.," the scene is actually the dam and head works of Tekoa Reservoir in the neighboring town of Montgomery. Montgomery Reservoir (as it's known to Westfield residents, if you're from Montgomery, it's Westfield Reservoir) is a couple of miles north up Moose Meadow Brook from its smaller counterpart.

The two Westfield water storage areas were built in 1874 following that city's successful statehouse request to acquire land in the town of Montgomery for the purpose of providing its residents with a steady supply of the life-sustaining natural resource. The 1873 act of of the Massachusetts Legislature resulted in the taking of nearly five square miles of property along and around Moose Meadow Brook to form the watershed of the Montgomery Supply System.

Businesses displaced that had utilized the brook as a source of power included saw and grist mills. Moore's whip factory was forced to close, the family later establishing the Mountain House north of the upper reservoir, an inn that specialized in serving up the fresh air of Montgomery country summers to its guests.

The head works is now missing atop the dam at Tekoa Reservoir and trees have risen along the banks of Moose Meadow Brook as seen in this 2010 spring season photograph.

Chauncey D. Allen was in charge of the major public works project, which carried a price tag of a hefty quarter of a million dollars. Allen lived in Westfield, in a house built on the lot General William Shepard's home once occupied on Franklin Street. He also owned the 10 acres between King, Smith and Grant Streets. This land later became a park named in his honor, bequeathed to the city in 1929 by Allen's son-in-law, Albert E. Steiger, the beautiful Grandmothers' Garden part of its grounds.

Two dams were built on Moose Meadow Brook under Allen's direction. An earthen dam located on the upper part of the brook held back the 38 surface acre, 125 million gallon capacity Montgomery Reservoir. Downstream, the brook was dammed with stone, creating Tekoa Reservoir, an acre and a quarter of water surface area with a capacity of nearly 4 million gallons.

Montgomery Reservoir was built as a storage reservoir and according to the Westfield Water Department's web site, has a modern-day capacity of 184 million gallons.

The reservoir was taken off-line in 1974 because of water purity issues. A step Chauncey failed to take when he built the Montgomery Reservoir was to scoop away the earth to the bedrock below the area to be flooded, an oversight which later came back to haunt the city with tap water that was unpleasant to the senses of taste, smell and sight.

Tekoa Reservoir once served the purpose of a diversion reservoir, the head works atop its stalwart stone structure controlling the gravitational flow of Moose Meadow Brook, dropping 480 feet in altitude on its roiling, two-plus mile journey southward between reservoirs. A 14 inch main at the base of the dam supplied a reliable stream of water to Westfield's center, over four miles away.

Today, the Montgomery Reservoir is maintained solely as an emergency supply and was most recently used as a water source for helicopters fighting a mid-April, 2010, wild fire on Russell's Tekoa Mountain that scorched hundreds of acres.

For more on Tekoa Mountain, including photographs from up top, check out the EWM post The View From Tekoa Mountain, Russell, Massachusetts.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

More info:

Excellent Westfield Water Department history from the official city web site:

http://www.cityofwestfield.org/detpages/departments329.html

Chauncey Allen Park & Grandmothers' Garden history from the folks who support them:

http://www.grandmothersgarden.org/history.htm

For amazing photographs of Grandmothers' Garden:

http://lizziebelle.blogspot.com/

To get to Tekoa Reservoir (and some great hiking!):

View Larger Map

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Advertisements: Insurance Agent Ink Blotters

In the days of nibs and ink bottles, advertising blotters were as ubiquitous as business cards are today. Used to catch excess ink from the writing tips of quill and fountain pens, paper blotters disappeared from everyday use with the advent of the ball point pen in the mid 20th century. Here are a couple of examples of blotter advertising recently shared with EWM by historian Barbara Shaffer, featuring Westfield insurance agent, S. A. Allen & Son.

S. A. Allen & Son's office was located in Gillett's Block, on the corner of Elm and Arnold Streets. The building, designed by Westfield architect, Augustus Holton, was opened for occupancy in 1899 and today is home to Westfield Gas & Electric, the municipal utility. Along with running his insurance company, S. A. Allen was president of Westfield's First National Bank.

S. A. Allen's son, Charles Turner Allen, met an unfortunate fate on the night of June 11, 1903, when he fell three stories to his death in the hose tower of Westfield's Arnold Street fire station. An inquest conducted by Judge Willis S. Kellogg the following month concluded that young Charles died as a result of his own carelessness, raising himself 34 feet above the concrete floor by a life-belt attached to an old rope used for lifting fire hose for drying and storage, despite being warned not to go so high. Even the insurers need insurance.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care. (And thank you, Barbara, for sharing these interesting pieces of ephemera!)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Postcards: Court Street, Westfield, Massachusetts

Here are a few postcards from Westfield's Court Street at the turn of the twentieth century from the Barbara Shaffer collection. Thanks for sharing with us Barbara!

When this postcard was mailed from Westfield to South Deerfield on November 12, 1921, the Westfield State Normal School building at 59 Court Street was just months away from its thirtieth anniversary of stony silent service in the advancement of education. Dedicated on June 21, 1892, the following autumn brought eager students across new thresholds as regular classes commenced in the fresh facilities. The building - erected at a cost of $150,000 - was constructed in response to a burgeoning student body that had stretched the walls of the former school building on the corner of Washington and School Streets. In 1956, the school quit the Court Street building for a new campus on Western Avenue, turning the structure over to the City of Westfield (which still utilizes the monolith as municipal offices) for the grand sum of one dollar. The multi-medium, Romanesque edifice achieved architectural rock'n'roll star status on March 8, 1978, when it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the first building in Westfield to gain that distinction.

The Westfield State Normal School dormitory of Dickinson Hall on the Court Street campus was a mere five years old - new by most folks' standards- when this postcard was stamped on September 20, 1908. The sender is obviously pleased with her accommodations and, better yet, is expecting a friend to join her on her adventure. "N. E. W." writes to Marietta in North Adams (c/o North Adams Normal School): "I have marked our room. Don't you think it is a beauty. Was glad you may be sure to get your postal." Ah, the wistful stirrings dusted up by ink dried long a year; a century and life passed for good and bad as sure as the sun rose this morn'.

At the time this postcard was dropped in the mail on its way from Westfield to Belleville, New York on November 4, 1910, the house in the foreground, 81 Court Street, was in the middle of its second decade of occupation. Built in 1894 at a cost of $5,000, the home's original owner was William Lyman. This view of Upper Court Street is very much the same today, the homes retaining their elegance and charm assisted by the loving touch of a new generation, descendant at the dawn of another century's turn. History lives.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

For more Westfield postcards, check out the previous EWM posts:

'Postcards: Westfield, Massachusetts; July 22, 2007'

'Postcards: The Green, Westfield, Massachusetts; August 31, 2007'

Map: Bird's-eye View of Westfield, Massachusetts, 1875

Who doesn't like looking at an old map? Well, I suppose a traveler on a new highway might not, but hey, if you're using a bird's eye view from 1875 to navigate now, here's three letters for you: G - P - S. Not that I own one of the newfangled devices, but then again, I tend to stick to the old, well-worn highways and byways anyway. 'Tis always a gift to spot the new along a familiar road.

This O. H. Bailey & Company map of Westfield, Massachusetts in 1875 has lots of interesting features. The racetrack on the corner of Main and Meadow Streets, the remnants of the old New Haven- Northampton Canal running alongside the railroad tracks through downtown and the covered bridges over the Westfield River are but a few. This map also shows the area of North Elm Street at Depot Square before the railroad tracks were raised (in 1896) and the road dug out beneath them. What is today the dead-end of Old Pochassic Street can be seen on the map as the road leading to the old bridge spanning the railroad tracks. All in all, it's a neat map to peruse. Unless, of course, you're lost in the 21st century.

For more maps - old and new- of Western Massachusetts and beyond, take a look at the EWM page 'Trails, Rails & Roads: Maps,' an exclusive feature always accessible via sidebar link.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Map source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division; Westfield 1875. C.H. Vogt Lith.; J. Knauber & Co. Printers; O. H. Bailey & Co. Pub.; http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g3764w+pm003272))

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Leftovers: Westfield's So's Restaurant Menu

Perhaps in hope of nudging Spring awake, I've recently begun sifting, sorting and scrapping the contents of the assorted accumulated partitions and containers chock full of yesterday that clutter my apartment and mind. Funny what one can find in the hidden recesses of trunks and cellars, attics and memory.

This seventies-era menu from Westfield's famous and much-missed So's Chinese-American restaurant brought thoughts of growing up in Westfield. When Sunday meant the inevitable line of hungry folks snaking out the door of the popular restaurant up Elm Street.

Back when Burger Town (sure, the meat was questionable...but for seventeen cents a burger...) occupied the northwest corner of Orange and Elm and the Donut Shop on the opposite corner was still the Donut Shop. On the way to school, it was daily magic to walk through the warm, heaven-flavored donut steam pumping out of the the wall vent into the cold air of a Westfield winter morning. It was a treat to stop for a donut and hot cocoa. Sometimes there would be change left for penny candy at Rasta's store, which always smelled so good of cigars and tobacco. If one was flush with funds - say fifty cents, or so - a balsa-wood airplane or a Tales from the Crypt comic book or the latest Mad magazine could be had there as well. And empty cigar boxes galore - free for the asking - great for organizing desks and crayons and saving baseball cards and storing things like...well, this menu from simpler days...

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Westfield's Grant & Besse Clothiers Tradecards

One New Year's resolution here at EWM is to cull through the clutter scattered in ever-multiplying folders and sort the scribbled notes on scraps that sometimes don't make it, found in a pocket of just-washed jeans or tossed in a drawer with an old grocery list. The reason being, of course, is to find forgotten treasure, tucked away for a future post and still gathering dust.

The scans below are just such a find. Generously shared by historian Barbara Shaffer, these images were clipped paper-doll fashion from advertisements for Westfield clothiers, Grant & Besse, located at 94 Elm Street in the Gowdy Block.