01/12/2004: 
Urban Archaeology
Woman gives up on fight to save Whalom Park, returns $50,000 in donations
By Crystal Bozek, Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise
LUNENBURG -- A local woman who has raised over $50,000 toward the effort to buy the abandoned Whalom Park is apparently giving up the cause.
Save Whalom Park Coordinator Allyson Bowen recently sent out letters with checks enclosed, telling people who had donated money from across the country, "I feel it is time to return your money."
Bowen, daughter of park co-owner John Bowen, did not say why she's apparently abandoned the effort.
"I wish, with all my heart, that I could be sending you season passes to the park, instead of money," Bowen wrote on her Save Whalom Park Web site. "But for many reasons, those that have been made public, and those that never will, it has not come to pass."
Owners closed the park at the end of its 2000 summer season and put the land up for sale.
The Electric Avenue park, home of The Whip and the Tumble Bug, has stood vacant ever since.
Here is a link to the Save Whalom Park website.
I have to say I feel for this woman. Dedicating such time to saving something important to her only to see her efforts not succeed is a very sobering thing. I wonder what will happen to Lake Whalom, as I have heard that the lake is being choked to death by an invasive species of weed. All that land will no doubt be turned into condos or a CVS instead of being maintained as open space. I hope they at least commemorate Whalom Park by keeping the name for the new neighborhood. I will see if I can contact Allyson Bowen, as this story seems to be a perfect example of Urban Archaeology.
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Woman gives up on fight to save Whalom Park, returns $50,000 in donationsBy Crystal Bozek, Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise
LUNENBURG -- A local woman who has raised over $50,000 toward the effort to buy the abandoned Whalom Park is apparently giving up the cause.
Save Whalom Park Coordinator Allyson Bowen recently sent out letters with checks enclosed, telling people who had donated money from across the country, "I feel it is time to return your money."
Bowen, daughter of park co-owner John Bowen, did not say why she's apparently abandoned the effort.
"I wish, with all my heart, that I could be sending you season passes to the park, instead of money," Bowen wrote on her Save Whalom Park Web site. "But for many reasons, those that have been made public, and those that never will, it has not come to pass."
Owners closed the park at the end of its 2000 summer season and put the land up for sale.
The Electric Avenue park, home of The Whip and the Tumble Bug, has stood vacant ever since.
Bowen attempted to raise $500,000 toward purchasing the park, leading a group of investors who would sell discount packages called "whales" for $50 and $100.
Bowen told the Sentinel & Enterprise last August she raised $50,000 in whale membership packages.
But not much at the park has changed since 2002, when Leominster native Lester J. Rosensaft signed a purchase and sale agreement with the park's owners, the Whalom Park Amusement Company Inc.
Local officials are still kept in the dark about what plans, if any, there are for the park, they said.
Planning Board Chairwoman Marion Benson said she still hasn't heard from park owners on what may happen to the land.
Town residents voted in May 2002 to make the 30-acre Whalom Park area an overlay district, which allows mixed development, including housing, business and recreational facilities.
Whalom Park lawyer Michael Angelini said he couldn't comment on the Rosensaft agreement or any future plans for the park.
"There is nothing I can disclose to you. I know a number of things, but nothing that can be made public," he said.
Selectmen Chairman Joseph Bilotta said he'd like to see the park redeveloped.
"Something needs to be done with that place," Bilotta said.
The park was built in 1893 by the Fitchburg & Leominster Street Railway Company, which created the trolley park as a way to increase profits by boosting its nighttime and weekend ridership.
Bowen is not giving up all hope of saving the park, asking contributors for support if she ever reopened the campaign.
"I hope that you will remember the same sentiments that led you to contribute this time, and join us again," Bowen said. "Until then, hold onto those pictures and those memories of Whalom, or of any bygone place that makes you nostalgic for your youth."
13 Annotations Submitted
Monday the 12th of January, prof_booty noted:
" All that land will no doubt be turned into condos or a CVS instead of being maintained as open space."
yes. more housing equals reduced pressure on pricing for the rest of us. open space? its been developed since 1893, not exaclty a pristine wilderness. am i playing devil's advocate or do i really believe this? column a, column b.
Monday the 12th of January, rafuzo noted:
"I wonder what will happen to Lake Whalom, as I have heard that the lake is being choked to death by an invasive species of weed."
It's awfully arrogant of the human race as a whole to assume that any natural occurrence of which we do not approve is somehow "unnatural" or "wrong". It's like legislating against natural selection with the Endangered Species Act, or the Army Corps of Engineers establishing boundaries on the Mississippi River (which has been snaking back and forth across the continent like a fire hose for millenia).
Monday the 12th of January, Errico Malatesta noted:
You are exactly right sir. Everyone should be able to do whatever pleases them. Future generations be damned!
Monday the 12th of January, prof_booty noted:
what we need to think of in terms of future generations is will they be better served by having a lake there or affordable housing and places like CVS to work
Monday the 12th of January, rafuzo noted:
"Future generations" is a red herring. What's at issue is not "whether we leave the world in a good state for our children" (in which case we should be worrying more about the ever-increasing Social Security burden they will be carrying), but rather whether it makes any sense to legislate for or against natural events. It makes about as much sense as arguing with a black bear that wants to eat you.
Monday the 12th of January, The Ecological Devils Advocate noted:
A job or housing will do no one any good if there is a lack of oxygen because there are too few trees. (Insert Spaceballs reference here.) Nor will they do any good if the earth's albedo is thrown askew because of the giant slab of concrete that the country is slowly becoming. Extreme? Yes, now it is. Would it be better to ignore the matter another hundred or so years until it is to late to make a difference? Hadn't we better start considering this now?
It is one little lake, right? Multiply that times thousands of incidents a year.
Wouldn't it be better for Juan to have a nice affordable house to live in and plenty of land to work? After all who really needs a rain forest? Deforestation worked pretty well for the Easter Islanders. Oh wait, no it didn't.
Monday the 12th of January, santo26 noted:
In terms of affordable housing, when was the last time that you saw or heard of a new development that actually was affordable?
As for Lake Whalom, this is one of those weeds that make it hard for the fish and native plants to live, and people to use the lake recreationally.
While planning for the future generations, it is important to maintain a balance between both of the productive uses of land- for economic growth (building CVSes and overpriced condos), and for natural growth (a properly maintained watershed which also acts as a recreation area).
Where do you expect the CVS worker to go on his lunchbreak if not to go sit on a park bench next to Lake Whalom?
Monday the 12th of January, greenpeace co-agitator noted:
If you're smart enough to have read and retained enough meaning of the word "albedo" to use it in a sentence, you ought to know that most of earth's oxygen is produced by algae, not trees.
Monday the 12th of January, awiggins noted:
Filling in a lake and building a strip mall is a "natural event?"
Monday the 12th of January, The Ecological Devils Advocate noted:
True about that there algae. Can't argue there. What happens though when the temperature of the oceans rises by a few degrees and the algae dies?
Monday the 12th of January, gold leader noted:
awiggins, stay on topic
stay on topic
Monday the 12th of January, P.J. O'Rourke noted:
If you think a rise in sea temperature will KILL algae, you know less about the biosphere that previously thought.
those who fill the ranks of the environmental movement seem willing to do absolutely anything to save the biosphere, except take science courses and learn something about it.
Tuesday the 13th of January, awiggins noted:
That was on topic gold leader. You are hearby stripped of your command.
