THE FUTURE OF PUTNAM PARK

Before 1991, Putnam Park wasn't a park at all.

Deborah L. Kershner says she used to walk past the area, a small lot on the corner of Putnam and Canard Streets in Cambridge, on her way to high school.

"We had to walk around the weeds onto the street and into the oncoming traffic just because it was so overgrown," Kershner says.

According to neighborhood lore, the lot began to change for the better in 1991, when Spanish teacher Manuel Uribe became concerned about the safety of his students who walked past the park at night to get to his house.

Residents say he was the first one to begin cutting down the weeds in the lot.

The neighbors joined in, and soon, the abandoned lot had become a center of the residential neighborhood.

"I'm sure we don't all go to the same church or synagogue, we don't all go to the same stores, but we all go to the same park," says George B. Spofford, who lives across the street from the park.

But now the park is threatened by a developer-not an unfamiliar story in Cambridge.

The city is lending some support, but Putnam Park is just one in a series of local areas threatened by development.

What differentiates this story of developer versus neighborhood is that the park is entirely the neighborhood's creation.

The lot is not public land, despite the sign proudly announcing that it is "Putnam Park."

And the residents are not letting the park- now a quiet site for educating schoolchildren, gardening and meeting with neighbors- disappear without a fight.

The History of the Lot

The property of a private owner until a March sale, Putnam Park has gained the support of the City Council and neighborhood residents in the fight to keep it accessible.

Arlington resident Richard Valente owned the lot before its recent sale to developers.

Valente did not re- develop the lot when an apartment was torn down in 1986 after being deemed a neighborhood hazard.

Once Uribe began his weeding, the idea of having a park in the community took hold.

In 1993, neighborhood residents began to plant beds of flowers. Over time they added gravel walkways, benches and even a small pond.

Currently the park is home to a sculpture bench entitled "Freedom Bench," donated by prominent New England sculptor Ayls Meyers.

Students at the King's Open Elementary School and the Martin Luther King School, both in Cambridge, also use the park for educational purposes.

They have painted murals on the park's fences and have observed its biologically diverse habitat- a unique find in the middle of a bustling city- for their classes.

They are also working on science projects there in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The lot's function as a teaching tool extends to a national level, too: as part of a project called Journey North, students have planted tulip bulbs in the park. They will watch them grow and compare notes with other students via the Internet, documenting the coming of spring up and down the East Coast.

In a March 10 letter written to Richard and Elizabeth Valente, King School Principal Joseph E. McKaigue emphasized the important role that the park had begun to assume in the education of his students.

"The school has no green space and over the last two years, students have undertaken science and technology projects at the park," McKeigue wrote.

"These current projects are just a sign of the potential for such unique site," he added.

Last year 35 students learned and worked in Putnam Park, and next year, teachers had planned to involve more than 80 students.

But all that may change.

The Sale

Now, an undisclosed developer has bought the park, and its future is uncertain.

The Valentes became involved in divorce proceedings, and a judge ordered them to sell the park-still their property despite its public uses-on March 11 of this year.

A developer bought the park for $800,000 in a "sealed bid" process, meaning that bidders submitted concealed bids to the real estate agent, and the highest bidder got the property.

Under the sealed bid process, no consideration was given to who the new owner would be, or what the owner would do with the lot.

The developer is allowed to build up to seven townhouses on the lot under current zoning restrictions.

Struggling for Space

But the neighborhood is fighting to keep that from happening to their beloved park.

Even prior to the sale, they had been trying to acquire the park from Valente in order to ensure the park's survival.

In November, members of the neighborhood asked the City Council to write Valente to see if he would sell the park to the city.

The council responded to the neighbor's request on Dec. 14, 1998, passing a resolution asking City Manager Robert W. Healy to write to Valente and meet with him about the park's future.

The council also told Healy to form a plan to acquire the park, and to place it on the agenda of the city's new Green Ribbon Open Space Committee. Healy complied.

"The parcel has become an important open space element to both the neighborhood and the neighboring elementary school," Healy wrote in a letter to Valente sent Jan. 8.

Valente expressed interest in selling the city the property upon meeting with Healy. The Valente family has long been involved in the city, contributing to Cambridge with projects like North Cambridge's Valente Library.

But according to Deputy City Manager Lisa C. Peterson, Valente was also interested in making a profitable sale.

"[Valente] was very clear that he wanted to make it into a park, but he was also very clear that he wanted $850,000 for it," Peterson says.

Valente could not be reached for comment this week.

By March, the court was ordering the sale of the property to the highest bidder.

While the city made a last-ditch bid for the property, they were not able to compete with developers' offers.

When the lot was put up for sale, the minimum bid was set at $650,000. Between March 7 and 10, the city tried once more to stop the sale and make a deal with the broker, Valente and the neighborhood. The council spoke with two environmental organizations, the Trust for Public Land and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Division of Conversation Services, as it formed a plan of action.

Ultimately, however, it could not stop the deal in time.

Under Massachusetts law, the city could only offer 125 percent of the assessed value averaged over the last three years. The city's bid came in around $600,000, the city manager said in the March 22 City Council meeting.

The property went to a yet-undeclared developer for a price "in the $800 thousands," realty company Hunneman-Coldwell Bankers told the city manager.

In the Neighborhood

Now neighbors must deal with a developer they do not know, one who likely has little interest in keeping the property a public park.

According to those involved in the sale, the developer was probably aware that a park existed on the lot when buying it.

"If you're going to pay $800,000, you visit the property," says neighbor Michael H. Isenberg.

Isenberg is the chair of the Friends of Putnam Park, a neighborhood organization that has formed to combat development of the lot.

The organization is affiliated with the nonprofit organization Cambridge Citizens for Livable Neighborhoods, and has found support among other Cambridge environmental groups like the Cambridge Greenspace Alliance.

Isenberg, 24, is an environmental consultant at Arthur D. Liddle, Inc. in Cambridge.

A Providence native, Isenberg is visibly excited when he talks about his neighborhood's park.

"I wouldn't be so excited about this park if it wasn't super-cool," he says.

Isenberg became involved with the park as soon as he moved into the neighborhood a little over a year and a half ago.

He was one of the neighbors who brought the park to the council's attention in November.

"Back in November we were trying to engage the owner and see if we could work out a deal. We were concerned about the future of the site," he says.

"There was starting to be a real active, solid group of people involved and concerned about the park and there was starting to be a real partnership with the community and the school," Isenberg adds.

Now, Isenberg is trying various tactics to deal with the invisible owner.

"It's difficult when you don't know who the owner is," he says.

But it seems that this has not deterred him.

Just earlier this week Isenberg met with State Sen. Robert Travaglini (D-Cambridge) about getting state funds to acquire the lot.

Isenberg has even tried to involve Harvard students in the future of the park, and will meet with the Harvard Environmental Action Coalition tonight.

Isenberg plans to raise up to $100,000 for Putnam Park, and says he will approach Harvard about whether it will donate money to the cause.

"They [Harvard] have a lot of stake in this area," he says. "They're probably going to be developing in the area and so this would be a sign of good will on their part to support neighborhood open space."

He notes that Harvard has another stake in the park-Peabody Terraces, which houses graduate students, is right across the street from the park.

In his fight, Isenberg has had the support of neighbors like Spofford and Lisa A. Fantoro.

The Cambridge couple lives across the street from the park and has participated in clean-up and gardening efforts.

The couple says they would like to preserve the park for their newborn son, Adam B. Spofford.

"Hopefully this child will be able to play in the yard across the street," says Fantoro, who will be returning to her job as a massage therapist at University Health Services in August.

Spofford says the park serves as a center for a diverse community that would otherwise have little chance to interact.

The City's Fight

Along with the neighborhood residents, Councilor Kathleen L. Born says she will keep fighting to preserve Putnam Park.

However, she notes that the City Council has seen a lot of property-including affordable housing and open space-slip through its fingers.

"Not a week goes by that a councilor doesn't put an order in asking us to purchase a piece of property," she says.

The city's power is limited when it comes to quick and pricey real estate deals.

Flooded with requests to stop development, and realizing that it cannot react quickly enough to these crises, the council has established the forward-looking Green Ribbon Open Space Committee. This will establish criteria for the prioritization of properties that the council wants to purchase.

The council has already earmarked $2.5 million for an Open Space Acquisition Fund.

The city has already created a similar fund for preserving affordable housing. However, it must get permission from the state before it can officially set up the same sort of non-profit trust for open space.

With all these obstacles, it seems as if Putnam Park will be developed before the city has the means to acquire it.

And although councilors have expressed their desire to buy the lot, the high price tag raises the question of whether the council's money would be better spent acquiring larger and cheaper property.

"There are so many needs right now when it comes to real estate," Peterson says. "Everything seems like a high priority."

Peterson says that in addition to Putnam Park, the city is looking for a space to house its new main library, its police department and an adult size soccer field.

With so many other projects competing for attention and space, will the little lot be left on the sidelines?

Isenberg is trying to make sure that does not happen.

And while Adam Spofford may not grow up to play in Putnam Park's gardens, neighbors are not admitting defeat.

"Mike Isenberg won't give up," Born says.