This Is Framingham

At the last Downtown Renaissance meeting, Director of Public Works, Peter Sellers was a guest speaker and told us about the summer projects for the area.
The projects planned will be started this summer and completed sometime next summer.   They’re going to make functional and aesthetic improvements to downtown.  Some of these projects include adding brick lined sidewalks, taking out all the trees and replacing them with a different kind of tree that can handle the area better (species yet to be determined), and installing tree grates to protect the roots.  Also with the subtraction of the rotary, they will be increasing the space in the plaza area in front of the Memorial building.  In addition to all this, they’ll install brick crosswalks and add ornamental lighting that will “dramatically” light up downtown at night using LED lights.
Downtown can be a touchy subject. Some people say its too far gone to improve and some see it’s potential.  My feelings about it vary from day to day.  While it doesn’t solve the major issues, I feel it’s better than not doing anything and I’m looking forward to having these improvements done.

I got an email a few days ago from Savers thrift stores saying they are coming to Framingham!  As some may know I’m a thrift store junkie and I love hunting out little treasures to add to my collection of useful and useless items.  I’m so excited because it’s become my favorite thrift store since I found it last year in Woonsocket.  As much as I’m always looking for a reason to visit Woonsocket (and I mean that, I’d love to make a thisiswoonoscket.com) I’m really looking forward to having Savers right here in the ‘ham.  Their selection of vintage housewares and electronics are fantastic. I recently got some lovely items like:
a never-used coffee pot/plate warmer:

crockette in excellent condition:

mint condition baking dish and set of side plates:


Occasionally I’ll buy something that isn’t brown but for the most part this place is a gold mine for me and Ethan actually always finds a nice record to bring home - some of his finds:

Not only will this be great for shopping but according to their press release, it will create 50 jobs for this store. 
For more information you can visit their site at http://savers.com

I take my daily (I try for daily) morning walk through downtown and around Farm Pond, and it’s a way to get some exercise and see if any vacant stores have any signs of occupation or get a glimpse of nature.  Sometimes I see things like this:

or this:

and sometimes I see things like…this:

and then sometimes I find out things I wouldn’t normally find out unless I took a walk, like this:

I didn’t even know about phases I-III of Cushing Park’s improvement plan but this sign was recently posted on the walking path there.  You can see more detailed before and (what will be) after images the Parks & Recreations plan posted on the town website here.  After looking at their site, I noticed they also posted they will be completing a new playground across the street at Farm Pond.  You can see those plans here.  I’m hoping they don’t get rid of the metal snail I used to enjoy playing on but maybe the town will put it up for sale(?)  Just another thing to keep an eye on.

I was taking a walk early in the morning so sorry for the bad picture, but if it were maybe 15 minutes later, you’d be able to see more clearly that the sign in the windows next to Wings says it there will be a liquor store coming soon called Southside Liquors.  I think its a decent match for being next door to a wing place and it’s nice to see something finally going to occupy that space.

Also, Cafe Belo, which I recently posted had closed, apparently has opened again:

I hate to say it, but it’s kind of too bad.  Only because I was looking forward to something different, I know Eb’s isn’t coming back but at this point even having it become a train station again, as some readers have suggested,  with a coffee shop in it would be nice and useful.

And also, the phone out side of the Memorial Building is out of order.  It’s nice to see they’ve found a use for at least one of the cones that used to be on the crumbling steps!
 

Doug Stephan of Eastleigh Farm (used with permission)
According to their site, Eastleigh Farm has been okayed (again) to sell raw milk starting in March.
There are people who think it’s a good idea and those who think it’s a bad idea but what it comes down to is that it’s a choice people can make, just like people choose how well they want their burger done.
Personally I’m not a big milk drinker, but I do enjoy cheese made from raw milk and I know there are lots of people who prefer to drink raw milk. I think it would be great for Framingham to be known as a location where you can get raw milk and support a local farm. When I talk to people who don’t live in town they’re surprised when I tell them we have actual farms here - they think Framingham is just crime and shopping.
I had the pleasure of talking with Doug Stephan a few weeks ago and he said the milk will start off being available as milk shares and then in a few months most likely be available by the bottle and then move onto cheese, yogurt and ice cream as well.
Everything you’d want to know about this, like why people want to drink raw milk, and more about the farm can be found on their website: http://www.eastleighfarm.com

I was looking through the permit listing on the town website and noticed some recent permit action at 2 Beacon St. The photo above is when this location was Michi Kusa but it was last occupied by Green Tea II. Ethan and I loved a scallop dish of theirs and were really bummed out when they closed.
As of January 12th, there are permits approved for a liquor and victualer license under the business name “Green Tea 2″, so I hope this means they’re coming back. Stay tuned!

The completion of the steps are actually a few weeks old now but I haven’t been by the Memorial building since the last time I posted.
So, if anyone hasn’t been by, the front steps are done!  Nice and safe and with pleasant railings too. 
I missed the tree lighting but it’s great to see the front of the building all decorated and festive.  Of course, it’s always a welcome sight to see the old Shoppers World soldiers dusted off for another season too.
I tried to do some sort of holiday shopping while I was downtown but there’s not a lot of places to get gifts at (besides CVS) so I just got some smoked salmon for my mom at Skaska, which she asks me to get when I go there, so I gave that to her as part of a Hanukkah gift. 
I’m still hopeful someday downtown will be more of a destination to go to, but it least until then we don’t have to look at crumbling steps anymore.  Nice to see progress in town