First Days of the Synthetic Turf in Action

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By mid-October, the new synthetic turf at Albemarle was in full swing, being used for field hockey, football, flag football, and selfies. Features a swanky cleat cleaner among other bells and whistles.

This is the fourth —and likely final, for the foreseeable future— synthetic turf installation in Newton. It replaces the most heavily used grass turf in the entire city, which required constant management, chemical treatment and watering. Underneath this installation is a massive climate change mitigation project in the form of a stormwater catch basin. (This process is explained here: https://friendsofalbemarle.wordpress.com/2025/06/16/how-drainage-will-work-at-albemarle)

As a part of this installation, a wetlands fund was granted to support ongoing protection and management for Cheesecake Brook.

In addition, this 2-acre installation is the only community-accessible synthetic turf in the city of Newton. It is on parkland, not school property, and although it will be heavily used by Day middle school teams after school from 2:30-4pm four days a week, and Newton North as their second synthetic turf field from 4-6 on weekdays*, it will be in constant rotation by other athletes for the many other sports that space supports – from cricket leagues to Ultimate frisbee to a beautiful diversity of sports that are too numerous to name.

*Note – Newton South already has two synthetic turf fields, as do most schools in the leagues these schools are competing against. This brings North’s tally to two as well.

Back-In Parking Fall 2025: Still Working…Still Running

It’s especially impressive when dozens of families arrive from other towns, encounter the park for the first time, and seamlessly back-in park at Albemarle.

Here, Day Middle competes in cross-country as parents look on. It’s easy to see that everyone parked correctly – no exceptions. But the wild thing is…also no honking. No backing out into traffic. No high blood pressure. No endangering cyclists and pedestrians.

It’s pretty cool if you think about it.

Soaking in the Murals

As co-founder and president of Friends of Albemarle, a nonprofit for an urban park, I often reflect that the pay is zero but the reward is community, so it’s a pretty good gig.

One benefit: Being part of the Spark Newton mural selection committee and advocating for the mural art of Amanda Bradley Hill.

I walked down to the pool the night it was installed and, yes, soaked it in. These are rainbow trout, busy connecting us to the tributary of the Charles River at our backs and the experience of swimming ahead of us – ensuring we are one with our ecosystem, each other, and ourselves.

I love the detail, the reflections, the simple graphic elements of leaves and lotus flowers.

It is friendly, local, sublime and yet everyday. It’s perfect.

Another accident at Albemarle

Word spread of another crash at Albemarle tonight. No details, but speculation that someone was trying to take a left onto Crafts off northbound Albemarle, which is always a risky move. Someone not familiar with the area might not be aware of the danger of this intersection. As we know, this intersection gets high use by pedestrian and bike traffic as well. We need significant continued investment in connection safety…or there’s no point in having a fantastic asset like Albemarle.

Construction: views of Albemarle along Crafts Street

A literal snapshot in time of the ever-changing landscape of the Albemarle fields, paths, wetlands and flood mitigation project which is in the middle of Phase 1. With 12 months to go, the North field (seen here) is still expected to be playable by mid-September.

Goodbye to Luis

We’re so grateful to Luis Perez Demorizi, who worked closely with us in his role as Director of Parks and Open Space in Newton, for his hard work, energy and dedication to Albemarle and the massive rebuild currently underway. His collaborative spirit, tenacity, and relationships with contractors, community and city officials were major elements of the equation that is bringing generational change to our park. And not just to Albemarle, but park projects and improvements all over the city.

He’s now going to be the new first-ever Executive Director of Franklin Park, as detailed in this moving interview in which he discusses growing up in the Bronx as an undocumented immigrant, where he built a deep appreciation for parks that inspired a lifelong commitment once he was away from them.

https://www.dotnews.com/2025/first-franklin-park-executive-director

Thank you, Luis. Your impact here in Newton will always be positive and profound!