Fading gem
By Elaine Allegrini, Enterprise staff writer

ABINGTON — Andrea Lovett no longer shares her stories of the wonderful woodlands in the thick of Ames Nowell State Park.
"It's kind of taking a risk of life and limb," the Abington storyteller said. "I used to feel safe with the rangers there, but now it's all overgrown. I feel terrible that it's gone into this sort of decay. It was a beautiful place."
Ames Nowell, at the end of Linwood Street, remains a quiet oasis for recreational fishing and boating, biking, horseback riding, walking or just relaxing, but the staff and programs that maintained the 600-acre preserve and connected visitors with nature are gone.
Just two years ago, narrow and overgrown trails were cleared by Boy Scouts seeking their Eagle Scout badges. Now, the park has fallen to the bottom of the state's budget priority list and the sparkle of Abington's hidden gem is beginning to tarnish. Bathrooms are closed, grass is uncut and unauthorized use by off-road vehicles is increasing.
"We haven't gone so far as to close the gate," said Susan Hamilton, regional director for the state Division of State Parks. "That would be a last resort."
Staffing at Ames Nowell was eliminated in November 2002 because of state budget cuts, but a former site supervisor, David Green, returned there daily last summer to open the bathrooms, at the very least, Hamilton said.
"He kind of kept the light on, so to speak," Hamilton said.
That stopped when Green was transferred to Borderland State Park in Easton, which is another district in the state park system.
The decline that started 15 years ago got a brief boost a few years back, but fell hard after that, all but closing the park.
The park, named the most beautiful in the state in 1988, is now without the management and staff that kept the trails safe and cleared, visitors engaged and enlightened and off-road vehicles out.
Gone are the fishing tournaments at Cleveland Pond, the nature walks led by staff interpreters and the stories told around the campfire. Visitors still watch the birds, but the staff that helped identify the wildlife and their habits is gone.
While the parks department Web site provides information on camping, rowing, canoeing, cycling and more at parks throughout the state, Ames Nowell is not on that list.
Nestled amid residential areas in the northwest sector of Abington, the park is close to Brockton and Holbrook and dissected by 90-acre Cleveland Pond. Neighbors find it convenient for their recreational walks, but some are now leery about walking unpatrolled trails. They also complain to the state of the annoying off-road vehicles that get in since the staff left.
The 2002 cut was not the first budget move to affect Ames Nowell, one of eight southeastern Massachusetts state parks and 30 across the state that suffered staff reductions in 1989.
In the years before that, the park had a year-round staff of two and seasonal staff of 14 who maintained the park and provided environmental programs for visitors.
State Rep. Kathleen Teahan, D-Whitman, said the lack of rangers at the park presents risks for those who enjoy the natural resources offered there and for the environment.
"It's a blessing to have it in the region," said Teahan, whose district includes the town of Abington. "When my children were young, we brought them there often to fish, walk and climb rocks."
Teahan said the park interpreters taught children to identify the birds and engrained respect and appreciation for the environment in those who visited.
"It's something that we really need to fund in the future, especially as the towns continue to develop more and more," she continued. "There aren't places where kids can go out and be kids."
Bob Cushman, a professional musician from Holbrook, said there is still no better place to sit in the shade and play his guitar.
"I've been coming here since I was a kid," he said last week when he returned with a friend to find relief from the heat and humidity.
As a youth, Cushman said he was among hundreds of children who frequented the park to fish, play ball, ride bicycles and more.
He participated in Holbrook Recreation Department bike hikes at Ames Nowell. He also fished in the pond that remains an attraction for the young and young at heart.
"There were little kids all over the place," he said. "It's become a very quiet place as I got older. That's all right, but it really should be used by children. It seems kind of ridiculous to have a baseball field there and then have a sign that says no ball playing."
Cushman said he is disturbed by the lack of maintenance.
"What a shame," he said. "It's only a matter of time before there'll be a build up of litter."
Lovett said it is not the park that it was when she began her storytelling program nearly 10 years ago.
"It's too bad," she said. "Two years ago, they had extra money and hired an interpreter and put up the shed for the interpreter and programs. They had high hopes for this park."
Instead of inviting parents and children to gather in the park to hear stories around the campfire this summer, Lovett said she felt more comfortable moving her programs to town property at Island Grove.
The state reported nearly 30,000 visitors to Ames Nowell in 1989, but now there are fewer than five or six cars in the small parking lot on most days. The overflow lot is closed by a locked gate, the same gate intended to keep motor vehicles off the park trails.
Nearby resident Marilyn McAuliffe said she occasionally walks her children through the park, but notices that the grounds are not maintained, the bathrooms closed.
"It would be nice if they could have people to clean it up a little more and staff it," she said.
Hamilton, the state park regional director, said there have been increasing complaints of off-road vehicles in the park, the lack of security and public bathrooms.
"Folks feel uncomfortable at times," she said.
State park workers check the site a couple of times a week, empty the trash and mow the lawn, she said.
But, electricity and telephone lines to the small field building have been turned off and questions are referred to the staff at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham.
Abington Police Chief David Majenski said the elimination of park rangers at Ames Nowell has added to the responsibility of his department.
"If there are any issues up there, we have to address them now," he said.
There has been some destruction and vandalism since the rangers left, according to Majenski.
Rangers, he said, provided the extra set of eyes needed for the large open space and the awareness of happenings there.
"It was a much easier feeling when we knew that people were assigned to the park on a regular basis," he said. "They knew if there were strange goings on."
Hamilton said the state's fiscal 2005 budget is now being reviewed, but she is unsure if there will be funds to restore park rangers at Ames Nowell. She did not have figures on the cost of operating the park.
Teahan said she intends to earmark money for Ames Nowell in an anticipated environmental bond bill, but she has been unsuccessful in attempts to get information about that bill.
"I would say for $100,000 we could reopen it," Teahan said. She said the budget would largely fund salaries for staff.
Hamilton said the calls to her office have escalated this summer. Some callers have suggested that the park be totally closed, she said that may have an even greater impact on nearby residents.
In other instances of park closings, she said people who continue to use the areas have parked on residential streets and even on private lawns.
"If we did anything drastic like closing the gate, we'd be forcing them on the street," she said.
She admitted that closing Ames Nowell is an option "if things get drastically out of hand."
But, it has not reached that point yet.
"We wouldn't just close the gate and let the shoe fall," she said, noting that there would be meetings with local police and residents of the immediate area.
"At this point, we still want to keep it available to the folks who use it," she added. "We're hoping we can."