The list of property donated to SOLF over the years ranges from odd one-acre parcels, to the 58.5 acres of Beals’ Preserve. Regardless of size, these gifts to SOLF help fulfill one of stated goals from a town-wide survey of Southborough residents in recent years: to maintain the rural character of Southborough.
Even the most modest donation can make a difference. The Clark property, a one-acre plot that abuts the old South Union school, is a quiet space for reflection often frequented by the neighborhood residents.
The Lambert property is a one-and-a-half acre parcel on the east side of Cordaville Road at Richards Road, preserving the rural ambiance of that neighborhood, and is in the vicinity of the Templeman gift of 8.16 acres of open space north of the Mass Pike and east of Route 85.
Templeman Woods off Cordaville Road extends towards Sunrise and Ashley Drive. It abuts the town’s 9.6 acre Watkins Wood conservation land, with a trail system running through both properties.
Fifteen acres were preserved between Wyndemere Drive and Sears Road through an innovative fundraising/buyout effort by area residents who then turned the property over to SOLF. This land includes a vernal pond.
In the same neighborhood is the Presidential Drive property donated by the Jasinksi family several years ago. Fourteen acres of swamp land off Presidential Drive, it is bordered by the railroad tracks, DCR land, and Chestnut Hill Farm.
Twelve acres of land between the westbound side of Route 9 and Orchard Road off Flagg Road were donated by the Northland Realty Corporation, creating a buffer zone between Route 9 and the residences. An additional abutting 2.78 acres were donated by Peter Bemis.
A 7.5-acre parcel on Valley Road, complete with pond, was donated in 2002 by SOLF founder and former president Pete Kallander. At the end of 2004, we gratefully accepted another very generous land donation from Peter – 11.5 acres of hilly land along Route 30. Together these parcels form Kallander Woods.
The 19-acre parcel off Bigelow given by Harvey and Elizabeth Bigelow connects with the larger Sawink Farm conservation land in Westborough that is owned by the Sudbury Valley Trustees, so it is once again helping preserve large tracts of natural habitat for wildlife, as well as protecting the water table for town wells and natural drainage.
Lynbrook Hollow, a 5.5 acre piece of property off Lynbrook Road, was donated to SOLF in 2019 by the L’Abri Fellowship of Southborough.
Our largest property and the most visited is the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve, a 58.5 acre parcel of open space gifted to SOLF by Elaine and Philip Beals, located on Main Street across from Chestnut Hill Road, with a trail system that extends to Hickory Road and Red Gate Lane, and which links with the Sudbury Reservoir Trail and the Boroughs Loop Trail. The property includes an ice pond, an historic riding ring, and a pollinator garden. Old Farm Lane, the main path on Beals Preserve, is featured on the header of our home page, photo by Debbie Costine.
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SOLF Trustee Debbie Costine has prepared a brief history of SOLF, which you can read below.
The motivating force behind SOLF was Larry Susskind, a professor of Urban Planning at MIT, who built his house on Jericho Hill Road in 1976 At that time, he claims, there were almost as many cows in town as people but the appealing fields and pastures of farmland were being swallowed up rapidly by subdivisions. Three years later in 1979, out of concern for unplanned growth, and with support from the Selectmen, the Planning Board, and the Conservation Commission, Susskind helped to organize a Southborough Citizens Planning effort.
From that project three original needs were identified:
1. to raise money to buy land (or at least development rights) so that environmentally and historically important parcels could be protected.
2. to help encourage the building of affordable housing.
3. to advocate for more and better land-use planning so that the unique features that give Southborough its distinctive identity might be protected.
A newly formed SOUTHBOROUGH OPEN LAND FOUNDATION, raised money to hire an Executive Director, and in 1988 became a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, with the aim of focusing on need numbers 1 & 3. An early project was to lobby for a town planner, which was accomplished.
Nearly 200 acres throughout the town has been preserved as open space for all to enjoy, thanks to the vision of Larry Susskind and the founding board of SOLF who received help from Sudbury Valley Trustees in starting SOLF. Much of Chestnut Hill Farm as well as the Beals Preserve would be large subdivisions without their vision and hard work. Not only have large parcels of walkable land been preserved, but areas of wetlands that have tremendous environmental importance have also been saved. And we have little pockets of land in neighborhoods where in the future, some child might go play in the woods.
The original goals of SOLF remain important and still need work. We always welcome those who wish to join us in the effort!