In the heart of Camberville, or Somerbridge, lies a wonderful section of green space that for has been enjoyed by the surrounding community for more than 50 years. That public access is about to end. (Editor’s note: There has been an update to the situation since this letter was received.) The Archdiocese of Boston sold the Matignon High School building in Cambridge and an adjacent field in Somerville to the Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School for $31.3 million in October 2024. Many residents who are used to using the field and those abutting the property are unaware of the changes the school has planned.
No one outside the school community will be allowed to use the field or parking lot, Banneker principal Sherley Bretous said at a self-described community gathering to introduce Banneker to the neighborhood.
A true community of people has grown together from the Teele Square area of Somerville and the far northwestern corner of Cambridge. The neighbors have used space at the school for running, pickup softball and volleyball games, ultimate Frisbee and dog walking. Families have taught children how to ride bikes in the parking lot and have been able to sled close to home in the winter. Although the school’s “community” gathering this spring was purportedly for getting to know the neighborhood, complete with free ice cream and cookies from a Cookie Monstah truck, no notice was given to residents in houses abutting the property, and it was held at 2:30 p.m. on a Wednesday. At the time, Bretous indicated that they want to be good neighbors and will hold another event in the summer before opening the school in August.
“We have to bring the building to code,” Bretous said in a Dec. 4, 2024, Bay State Banner article by Peter C. Roby. That includes elevator installation and HVAC updates, but the school is also erecting fencing around the property to add to the fencing there over the past 50 years. No city permits are visible for any of the work being done. The work has included deep digging to lay electrical wires for security cameras.
Most of the lot, including the parking lot and field, is capped landfill over the Somerville line, it was noted in reporting by Marc Levy published July 16, 2024. Then Cambridge city councillor Paul Toner described there being only around 3 feet of topsoil atop the landfill that would make development difficult, and “the powers that be in Somerville were weighing in to make sure it stays a field too.”
“A lot of people had concerns that the field was going to be turned into something” after the city of Somerville was outbid by Banneker for the field area. Somerville residents met with mayor Jake Wilson and asked him to meet with Bretous to see if there could be compromise on the use of the field. We explored several compromise options that the mayor agreed to bring to the school, including designated use hours and community cleanup days. The meeting took place, but according to the mayor’s public liaison Jesse Moos, via email, the school’s response was:
“The field is private property belonging to the Benjamin Banneker School and currently, as they work to reestablish the grass on the field and with concerns of dogs using it, they are asking folks not to infringe on their private property. They fully understand how the field was used in the past, but as the new owners they are asking the neighborhood to be respectful of their field and how they plan to maintain it including adding new fencing.”
Since the charter school serves primarily Cambridge residents, it is unclear if they realize that they are now next to an additional municipality that does not benefit from their residence in the neighborhood. In contrast, the adjacent International School of Boston at 45 Matignon Road, Cambridge, has communicated with neighbors from the start and is willing to inform the community of large events happening or other changes that will affect the neighborhood. Banneker has not informed abutters as to their construction goals, which is what people trying to be good neighbors do. They have asked that the neighborhood respect their “private property” but have not communicated the same respect to residents in the area.
Over time, area neighbors have looked out for the property, picking up discarded trash and beer cans and even dead animals. Dog owners have consistently shown respect for the field by cleaning up after their pets, and when the occasional oversight occurs, fellow community members are quick to help ensure the space remains clean.
Just last week, when Somerville Public Works flushed the fire hydrants on Endicott Avenue in the late afternoon, apparently the valve controlling the field irrigation system gave out. The shed housing the equipment began gushing water onto the school field. It was the dog owners who noticed the problem and called 311 to get Somerville Public Works and the Cambridge Fire Department to respond to the flood. They also reached out to Somerville Ward 7 councilor Emily Hardt, asking that she contact the school. It was a dog owner who got a garden tool to divert water to a drain in the field to prevent damage to the adjacent property.
Why did they bother? Because that’s what you do when you are part of a community. Sadly, that is not the type of community to which the Banneker wants to belong.
Ann Marie Healey, Paul Baxter and Pam Blittersdorf
Somerville dog owners
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