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Politics & Government

PHOTOS: Clapp School Site Still Contentious

The modular classrooms are gone, but some say the ballfield should return. Pick-up and drop-off lane should be removed and playground equipment moved, residents say.

Sometimes what you don’t see is an important part of a picture.

So what don’t you see behind the ?

Gone are the modular or portable classrooms. , they were brought in to house students from the while the was built.

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The ground under the former portables farthest from the Clapp School has been loamed and was seeded Tuesday. More loam is needed, according to Wickson Construction employee Jason Stafford, for a strip of land between the newly-loamed area and the playground. Land adjacent to the school and the paved area will also be paved, Stafford said. The work could be done this week, he said, depending on the weather.

But there’s something else you don’t see behind the Clapp School that concerns some residents, including Rosa DiTucci, who is also Ward 1 alderman. A ball field in the uphill corner of the site farthest from Hudson Street. DiTucci said the ball field, used for team practice and pick-up games, drew younger players from all over the city.

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The ball field was squeezed out by the portables and the drop-off and pick-up lane installed with them off Hudson Street, DiTucci said.  When that lane was installed, the playground equipment near the school—but not on school land, DiTucci said—was moved farther away from Hudson Street. More equipment was brought from the old Goodyear School, she said, and moved onto what had been green space.

The drop-off and pick-up lane should be removed, DiTucci said, and the fence and playground equipment moved closer to Hudson Street to return a ball field to the park.

This has nothing to do with the educational use of the other part of the property, DiTucci told Woburn Patch Tuesday. It is not under the jurisdiction of the School Committee, she said. DiTucci said she has spoken to Mayor Scott Galvin about the issue.

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