LYNNFIELD — Town workers finished a septic replacement project on the Common before the snow flew and just in time for Saturday’s tree lighting.
Snow hides the Common corner where workers replaced the aging septic system. The site has been graded, loamed and seeded and ready for grass germination in the spring.
Town Engineer Charlie Richter said once the grass takes hold, the lawn area will be maintained by the town Public Works Department (DPW) using organic treatment measures, rather than traditional chemical pesticides and herbicides.
“This is a good initiative for the town,” said Richter. “We’ll be able to monitor the effectiveness of the organic treatment measures and expected cost savings on this smaller 13,000-square-foot area. In the spring, the DPW can look to implement organic maintenance measures on the remainder of the Town Common’s existing lawn area. Looking even further ahead, the Town has numerous grass properties that could also be converted to organic lawn care.”
Town officials are working under guidance from Osborne Organics of Marblehead, which maintains all public properties in that town, including its playing fields, have successfully been organically maintained for years.
The septic replacement and landscaping work is the latest phase in a Common improvement project that included early fall work on the Meeting House on the Common’s Main Street side.
A new roof and fresh paint made the old building in the town center new again.
The Lynnfield Historical Society paid Danvers-based Bida Painting $14,000 to do the work.
“It’s badly needed,” said Society President Linda Gillon. “It’s the responsibility of the Historical Society and we take it very seriously.”
The work is being completed following roof repairs and ahead of plans to upgrade the kitchen.
Located in the middle of the Common behind the big iron bell that topped it during the last century, the Meeting House holds 300 years of Lynnfield history and serves as its focal point.
Residents are charged $200 to rent the facility for weddings, birthdays and other events. It’s $250 for non-residents.
Weddings are held in the building’s main floor about every four months with a capacity of 80 people. Gillon said bridal showers, anniversary parties and other gatherings are hosted there. Most people who book the space hear about it by word of mouth.
Today, the building is owned by the town but managed by the Society, with Gillon overseeing event booking. A resident since 1983, Gillon and her husband, Robert, bought the Joseph Henfield House on Main Street in 2006.
A local history referenced by Gillon said the building is “thought to be the third oldest” Puritan meeting house in New England still standing.
Known originally as the Meeting House of the Second Church of Lynn, the building has undergone transformations during its history. It was enlarged in 1882 with carpenters cutting the House in half and adding another 14 feet of space.
Fifty years earlier in a nod to separation of church and state, the Meeting House’s church balcony was transformed into a second floor providing upstairs worship space with Town Hall located downstairs. Church pews still fill the second floor accessible by a steep wooden staircase.
Big barn doors were installed in the building in 1903 to transform from a place of faith to a firehouse with a belfry and bell constructed on its roof.