LOU MANCINELLI
PONDSIDE—The $15,000 required to match a proposal from the Environmental Office of Executive Affairs to provide half of the funding for a withering graffiti-ridden historical wall along the Jamaicaway has been secured, according to representatives from the Arborway Coaltion, the group that initiated the process to restore the wall.
Local and non-local businesses, individuals and groups such as the Jamaica Pond Association, the Jamaica Hills Association and the Sumner Hill Association rallied behind a drive to raise money to restore the tattered 19th century wall. The wall stands at the end of Dunster Road, along Pond Street across from the Jamaica Pond, at the transition between the Arborway and the Jamaicaway.
“I want to thank the community for pulling together to get this thing up and running,” said Sam Sherwood of the Arborway Coalition. “It was a good thing. I couldn’t be happier. Things like this enhance the quality of life in the community.”
Construction is set to begin in the spring and the next step is for a Department of Conservation and Recreation engineer to contact coalition members and inform them of what happens next, said Sarah Freeman of the Arborway Coalition, who occupied her time in recent weeks handing out flyers and speaking at community meetings to raise funds for the wall.