Library Field Playground Under Construction, Closed

The playground is closed until later this month.

The following text was provided by Mayor Scott Galvin's office.  The children’s playground at Library Field will be closed until the end of August so that much-needed safety improvements and new playground features can be constructed at the site. Demolition of the old playground was completed over the last week, and installation of the new playground should be completed by the end of August.  Rory Lindstrom, Recreation Director for the City of Woburn, said the new playground will have feature a new climbing area and a separate toddler structure. “The renovation of this playground was sorely needed to improve safety,” said Lindstrom. “This area is particularly important because of its central location in the heart of Woburn Center. We are …

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today, June 9

Breaking news: It's hot out.

"Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. Let us know what you think of the feature in the comments section. Today is Thursday, June 9. Here are five things you need to know: To find out what is going on today in Woburn, check out our events listings. 

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Library Project Essentially Dead

Two City Council votes Tuesday night have stalled the Woburn Public Library expansion proposal.

Hours of discussion, heated debate and high temperatures filled City Hall Chambers Tuesday night, as the City Council, Mayor Scott Galvin and the Board of Library Trustees discussed the proposed Woburn Public Library expansion. The council, reacting to an order on its table from March, was charged with deciding whether to apply for a 2011 state grant to help fund a $24 million library expansion project.  Mayor Scott Galvin emphasized that he would not support the $24 million project, but was willing to support a smaller, $15 million project using a grant from 2008. The deadline to accept that grant is June 16. "This [$24 million] project is not going anywhere," said City Council President Paul Denaro during Tuesday's discussion. "We have a…

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Holly

2:05 pm on Thursday, June 16, 2011

Would it be to simple to make a complex situation by asking..... If I gave you a lottery ticket for the chance to win 24 million would you hang on to that ticket in hopes of being a winner or give it back because your are not interested????   more ›

Farmers’ Market Opens Successfully Sunday

June 5 marked the beginning of the season for the Woburn Farmers’ Market at Spence Farm.

Fresh fruits and veggies, jewelry and crafts, soaps, flowers, fish and lobster, breads and pastries, honey and jams, beef, coffee and even some home-made candles. Where can you get all this fresh, locally-made products? It has to be the Woburn Farmers’ Market staring a year of communal creativity and engaging eatables. "It has been a phenomenal success," said coordinator Paul Mederios. "A lot of people from Woburn and all around have come out to support us." Between the market's opening at 9 a.m. and its close at 1 p.m., hundreds of locals made the trek down Wyman Street and into the expansive Spence Farm. Mederios and his staff of a dozen volunteers welcomed guests, ran the hayrides, orchestrated the mini-horse petting zoo and even backed…

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City Officials Discuss Additions to FY12 Budget

The Citi Stat and Stream Line Permits systems are to be put in place next fiscal year.

As part of the city budget process, the City Council Committee on Finance met last night to discuss parts of the fiscal 2012 budget. Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin spoke to the aldermen about two new communications systems that the city will implement in the coming fiscal year. Citi Stat and Stream Line Permits will comprise $42,000 of the mayoral budget in fiscal 2012. "They are separate [programs], but they do have information that is helpful to both," said Galvin. According to Galvin, the Stream Line Permits program will start in the Building Department. Then all departments involved in the permitting process will have access to the same permit record. Citi Stat will serve as a way for city officials to "track expenditures, trends in …

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School Committee Approves Redistricting Plan

Clapp School parents should get school assignment letters soon.

Parents of students at the Clapp Elementary School will soon receive a letter telling them which of two other elementary schools their child will attend in the fall:  the Goodyear School or the White School. The School Committee unanimously approved a redistricting plan Wednesday night for Clapp School students. Using Hudson Street as a border, about 60 students from the Clapp School neighborhood will move to the White School, according to a presentation by school Supt. Mark Donovan. Using Richardson Street as a border, about 100 students will move to the Goodyear School. All of the students who would have attended the Goodyear School but went to the Clapp while the new Goodyear was being built will go to the Goodyear School. The Clapp …

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Kennedy Middle School Roof Cost Skyrockets

New state rules will drive the roof project costs up nearly $2 million.

The cost of a new roof for the Kennedy Middle School has risen from $1.5 million to $3.5 million because new state rules apply, David Dunkley, the city’s school building facilities director, told the School Committee Tuesday night. The state School Building Authority, which will cover just over half the cost of “green” roof repairs, is requiring the city to meet the state building code for insulation, Dunkley told the committee, which also reviewed Dunkley’s budget. Doubling the insulation means other building parts, such as windows and flashing, will have to be addressed, he said. The state school building authority rules will make the project better, Dunkley said. In addition, the state building code has just changed, requiring projects …

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'Fine and Dandy' at 108 Years Old

Local resident Marie Kelly celebrates her birthday and offers advice to the rest of us.

Few people can look back at more than a century of memories and experiences, and probably even fewer people over 100-years-old still look ahead. Meet Marie Kelly, a forward-looking resident at Brightview Country Club Heights who celebrated her 108th birthday on Sunday amid the applause of her family and friends and special guest Mayor Scott Galvin. Marie was born in 1903 in South Boston and graduated from Roxbury High School. Following graduation, she was a secretary at Woolworth's for a time before making her home with husband, George Thomas Kelly, and children Joan, Neal, Jack and Paul in Dorchester where she lived for many years. When Mayor Galvin asked Marie, "How does this special birthday feel?" She smiled broadly, and answered, "…

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Officer Jack Maguire

Officer Maguire's Brother, Local Politicians Testify at State House

Chuck Maguire, along with Woburn Police Chief Philip Mahoney, Mayor Scott Galvin and state Rep. Jim Dwyer urge lawmakers to pass Melissa's Bill out of committee.

Les Gosule lost a daughter. Nearly 12 years later, Chuck Maguire lost a brother. On Wednesday afternoon, both men told legislators on the Joint Committee of the Judiciary that their loved ones would still be alive today if the state would hav had a tougher habitual offender bill in place. “How many passes does the victim get? Zero,” Gosule told lawmakers at the public hearing at the statehouse. Maguire said the “cycle of news will not pass (on this issue), this will stay forever.” Both men were advocating for Melissa’s Bill, which proponents say strengthens the laws regarding repeat offenders. Gosule is the father of the late Melissa Gosule, for whom the bill is named. Melissa was a 27-year-old teacher in Randolph when she was kidnapped, …

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