Dear TBE Congregants:

As you know, we 've broken ground! The new building will be built on our existing parking lot, enabling us to stay in our current building during the construction. It is estimated that we will move into our new home in the spring of 2011. During that interval, the most noticeable impact for all of us will be the loss of our parking lot. That will affect almost anyone who comes to the temple, for services, religious school, adult classes, meetings, and school programs.

A committee has been hard at work planning for each of these situations. In this letter, we will spell out the general guidelines for parking in the coming months. We can’t anticipate every situation, and encourage you to contact Carol Clingan, (781) 234-2645, clingan@comcast.net or any other member of the committee with specific questions and concerns. And please remember that the latest information is always available on our website, www.bethelohim-wellesley.org.

While there will be several on-site spaces, located where the grassy circle in front of the building has been, most of these spaces will be allocated as handicapped spaces, clergy reserved parking, and for staff who are there every day (while most congregants come occasionally). There will be a few spaces reserved for very short-term parking, for parents running into the school or congregants having a meeting with the clergy. There will be a plan and process for the allocation of these spaces, and individual circumstances will be weighed. In general, you should consider that there will be no parking at the Temple itself. You should also expect to be asked to pitch in by carpooling and helping in other ways to reduce congestion and ensure safety.

Beyond these on-site spaces, the other available parking is listed below.

Schofield Elementary School: This lot can be used on Friday nights, midweek after 4:30, and Saturday and Sundays when the fields are not in use. In the coming months, we will be providing a detailed schedule. Before the parking lot disappears, we will have a new, permanent, lighted path connecting the Schofield parking lot to the nursery entrance of the Temple, to make this trip easier and safer.

Neighboring streets: We have worked with the Wellesley Police to define appropriate parking on adjacent streets—those off Cedar Street between Bethel Road and Route 9—Redwing, Bobolink, Bluebird and Oriole Streets. Generally, we have agreed to park on only one side (this will be posted), and to stay well clear of people’s driveways. As always, there will be no parking on either side of Cedar Street. Anyone violating these guidelines is subject to towing, so let’s be good neighbors!

Oulette Field: There is a small parking lot adjacent to a playing field off Cedar Street to the left just beyond Charles Street. This is also available when there are no sports.

Wellesley Gateway Office parking lot (Harvard Pilgrim Health Care building): Harvard Pilgrim has generously given permission for us to use their parking lot on Saturday mornings, for Bar/Bat Mitzvah guests. There will be free shuttle service to and from the Temple. This parking lot is located at 93 Worcester Street, on the westbound side of Route 9, at the junction with Route 128.

In addition to this letter, we are also preparing letters to b’nei mitzvah families, religious school, youth group and nursery school families to explain in more detail the parking and drop-off options.

As we do on the High Holy Days, we all need to cooperate with the guidelines and with each other during this period of transition, so that everyone is treated fairly and predictably and everyone is “sharing the burden” of this dislocation. Our community is such that this is a reasonable expectation! Thank you in advance for your cooperation with us and your consideration of our neighbors during this temporary situation.

View a map of the construction parking options.

Sincerely,
Carol Clingan, Chair

Bayit Z’mani Committee: Katie Block, Jessica Carroll, Lynne Friedman, Wendy Garber, Terry Chen Rothchild, Risa Shames, Karen Temkin, Nancy Wolk 

Parking, Patience and Procedures
Parking Signage: A Guide for the Perplexed
Our Own Connector
Map of TBE Construction Parking Options