” At the end of August, there were unanticipated issues discovered by the Newton’s construction contractor for the Farlow Park restoration project, AJ Virgilio. It is not uncommon with any large capital project that the vendor runs into obstacles, not discovered when doing both the feasibility study and initial project planning. These unforeseen issues were inaccessible during the discovery and initial project analysis as the original pond basin sat under 18 inches of loam. We are fortunate that much of the original basin is intact, amazing considering this man-made pond was originally constructed in the late 18oo’s. In order to make the basin watertight, seeps holes needed to be expanded and then patched and the expansion joints needed to be cleaned and resurfaced. Also the edging around the basin was in bad shape in certain places and needed significant repair.

Our project manager and the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, were presented with the necessary changes by the contractor, design and structural engineers and landscape architect. With the recommendations in hand to move forward with the project, we negotiated the cost changes and are now moving forward. We are back on track, and the new bridge is being constructed off-site.

Once we have a updated timeline, it will be shared with the community via email (Newton Corner Google Group), Facebook (both Newton Corner and Farlow Park pages, and the Friends of Farlow Park website.

The City of Newton is committed to the Farlow Park restoration project as the Friends of Farlow Park have been since 2004. This is our community and our neighborhood, and we invite all residents of Newton Corner and the city of Newton to join us renewing our commitment by joining the Friends of Farlow Park. http://farlowpark.org.”

CPA project link:  http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/planning/cpa/projects/farlow.asp#2013-proposal