UPDATE 4/10/2019:

Greetings from the farm! Almost two years ago, in June of 2018, WFCF and the tenants at the iconic UMass Field Station (Waltham Fields Community Farm, Waltham Land Trust, Boston Area Gleaners, Green Rows of Waltham Community Gardens, Grow Native Massachusetts, Mass Federation of Farmers Markets, and the Boston Area Climate Experiment) were confronted with a serious, existential threat to our long-term tenancies and to the historic and vital agricultural land on Beaver Street. Today, Waltham Fields Community Farm gratefully recognizes that the City of Waltham is on the eve of a final vote to approve and advance a financial transaction with the University of Massachusetts for the purchase of the land and buildings at 240 Beaver Street.

We have respectfully asked Waltham’s City Councillors to finalize this process on Monday, April 13, 2020, and vote YES to approve Mayor McCarthy’s request to move forward with the purchase and sales agreement and approve the financing transaction totaling $3,420,000 towards the $17,420,000 acquisition cost of the UMass Field Station and Farm property.

Waltham Fields is exceedingly grateful for the tremendous community advocacy shared on behalf of this agricultural site and its tenants. We shall cherish the passionate support and representation at City Hall meetings as well as the postcards and letters composed by so many.

Waltham Fields shares our deep-rooted appreciation for the leadership of Mayor Jeannette McCarthy, MA Representative John Lawn, MA Senator Mike Barrett, Waltham City Councillor John McLaughlin, MA Representative Tom Stanley, the members of Waltham’s Community Preservation Committee as well as the City’s solicitors and UMass’ attorney’s and officials who have contributed to the negotiations and final agreement. This land will forever hold the devoted energy of its local defenders, who actively advocated for its protection, tirelessly for so many years: Dee Kricker, Martha Creedon, Marc Rudnick and Diana Young.

UPDATE 11/4/2019:

  • On October 24th the MA Senate adopted Amendment #76, offered by our State Senator Mike Barrett, who has long been a public advocate for the tenants of the Waltham Field Station. Amendment #76 supports the tenants of the Field Station, a building that has become a "Waltham institution". The amendment provides $200,000 for improvements to a structure that’s home to numerous non-profit organizations devoted to •food •farming •open space •agriculture •horticulture •climate research. Amendment #76, along with the Senate's proposals, will now be reviewed by the MA Conference Committee and then must be approved by Governor Baker. Each organization works on sustainable agriculture, local produce, and healthy diets, from a century-old “field station.” The main administrative building, which sits on a large agricultural site at 240 Beaver Street, is in need of some repair and maintenance, which Barrett’s amendment will help address.“For the sake of a group of non-profit tenants that do a great job serving the interests of everyone in Waltham,” said Barrett, “we need to invest in this building. It needs a lot of work, but these organizations are well worth it.”

                 Read the full Press Release from Senator Mike Barrett

  • On October 28th, Waltham City Council referred the matter of the CPC recommendation to spend $14M in CPA funds for the purchase of the Field Station to the Long Term Debt Committee.
  • On November 4th, the Long Term Debt Committee unanimously approved the use of $13,750M in CPA funds for the purchase of the Field Station. The matter was voted out of LTD Committee and will return to City Council on Tuesday, November 12th.  We hope the Council will vote to approve CPA funding at this meeting! Please join us at 7:30 PM at City Hall!

UPDATE 10/19/2019: It is with tremendous enthusiasm and appreciation that we share the news that this week The City of Waltham's Community Preservation Committee unanimously approved Mayor McCarthy’s application for $14M in CPA funds to support the purchase of the UMass property on Beaver Street which includes our historic farmland! The matter of the Field Station will now proceed to City Council in the upcoming weeks via Committee or directly to Council. Stay tuned! We are abundantly grateful for YOUR advocacy and extend a great big thank you to all who have supported the tenants at the Field Station and participated in the effort to preserve and protect this historic land.

UPDATE: 9/4/2019 We are pleased to share the news that Waltham's Mayor McCarthy has filed an application for CPA funds to support a purchase of the UMass Waltham Field Station by the City of Waltham. Mayor McCarthy will present her request at a meeting of the Waltham Community Preservation Committee on Tuesday, September 10th at 7:00 pm in the City Council Chamber Our Executive Director, several Board Directors and WFCF staff members will be present to stand and speak in support of the Mayor's application. Please join us at this public meeting if you would like to support the Waltham Field Station tenants and your community farm!
Read the CPC application here!

UPDATE: 4/8/2019 We’re thrilled to announce that the Waltham City Council voted in favor, on April 8, to authorize Mayor McCarthy to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with UMass, thus advancing current negotiations.

After several Councillors stood to voice their support for the negotiations and for continued use of the parcels for farmland and the building as a home base for our tenancy, the vote tallied at 12 in favor, 1 opposed (Councillor Nabulime), 1 recused (Councillor R. LeBlanc, as he is an abutter to the Field Station).

We’re grateful as well for the wonderful support of everyone who emailed, called and joined us during the Council meeting. Your presence truly makes a difference. Special thanks to Councillor McLaughlin who noted the community’s presence in council chambers and successfully moved to vote on the matter last evening. Mayor McCarthy’s initiatives on this real estate matter are to be commended and we are thankful for her support.

As negotiations move forward, we will ask the Council to commit to:

• Define the language within the MOA which expresses the City’s interest in acquiring the property for “certain municipal purposes”.
• Publicly advocate for the permanent preservation of agriculture at the Waltham Field Station.
• Protect the current tenancy of the vital and sustainable non-profit organizations housed at 240 Beaver Street in the hope of strengthening services offered to Waltham residents and those in our neighboring communities.
• Continue to amplify and enhance future initiatives to strengthen the City of Waltham as a sustainable community and partner in food security, environmental stewardship, and urban agriculture.

As the tenants of the Waltham Field Station, we’re grateful and enthusiastic for the potential to collaborate with the City with our collective envision and plans for continued vibrant programming.

UPDATE: 4/1/2019 Greetings farm friends!

We are encouraged to learn the docket for the Waltham's City Council meeting on April 8, 2019, includes Mayor Jeannette McCarthy's request for authorization to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with UMass to consider a purchase of the 225 and 240 Beaver St. parcels. 

While this is not a public hearing and the public is not invited to address the council, attendance is a gesture that may illustrate our community’s desire to see the field station and its farmland preserved and protected. We will be there representing!

The public's support for the tenants of the Waltham Field Station has been incredible! Let's keep up the momentum by emailing, calling and writing to City Councillors and MA elected officials to demand the permanent preservation of agriculture and open space at the Field Station and commit to supporting the sustainable community of non-profits working from the Waltham Field Station.

Email, call & write to UMass’s Chancellors to insist lease agreements are extended through 2020.

Read the MOA

For more information on how you can help, visit:  https://walthamfieldstation.org/how-can-you-help/

Read more about the City Council vote 

Past Field Station Updates