Festa Junina on June 11, Geothermal Pilot Program in Framingham, Farmers' Market, Outdoor Seating and more! The Choose Framingham Newsletter

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Monthly Newsletter

May 31, 2022 | In This Issue

Annual Festa Junina Happening on June 11

The annual Festa Junina will take place on Saturday, June 11 starting at 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the St Tarcisius Church. This Brazilian celebration begins with a mass and will include traditional food, live music, games, and more!

There will also be a riffle for amazing prizes: a Toyota Corolla 2022, a scooter, and an iPad. The Brazilian American Center (BRACE) is hosting this ‘festa,’ if you would like to learn more about the event follow them on Facebook or visit their website.

Geothermal Pilot Program to Begin in Framingham

New England’s largest energy provider, Eversource, is set to begin first-of-its-kind pilot with networked geothermal energy. In a conversation with Choose Framingham, Eric Bosworth, Project Manager at Eversource explained to us the way geothermal energy can cool and heat up spaces. This renewable resource works using the earth’s external storage, during the winter heat is pull out of the earth with a heat pump into homes and businesses. During the summer, the same process works in reverse, the heat is taken out of the space and is stored in the earth. Even though geothermal energy has been used for heating for a very long time, it is the shared network geothermal energy (video) that will be tested what makes it unique.

According to Eversource website, “using geothermal energy for heating and cooling can reduce the average residential customer's carbon emissions by up to 60 percent.”

Eversource screened several places, according to the standards the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, who approved the program, gave them. Bosworth shared with us that Framingham met all the criteria on Eversource’s quantitative process. The city is an urban area with enough space to install the equipment, the geology is great for geothermal because of Framingham’s very shallow rock. Lastly, the cross section of income and the use of gas, oil, propane, and electric resistance in this area is ideal.

Eligible participants of this program have already been notified and selected. The pilot is intended to run through two heating and cooling seasons starting in mid-2022, and Eversource will be receiving feedback before, during and after the program. Participants will pay a low fixed charge each month for access to the geothermal network. They will no longer pay for natural gas or delivered fuels but are responsible for their electric bill that will power the heat pump.

If you want to learn more click here. For questions about the pilot or to receive regular updates, please email geothermal@eversource.com.

Restaurants to Check Out in Saxonville

Framingham Farmers’ Market

The Framingham Farmers’ Market is coming back this summer starting on June 23^rd! In an effort to revitalize the market, the city has taken over during this season. The hours of operation will now be 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Thursday. The farmers’ market will have food trucks, crafters, bakers, an ice cream machine and much more for everyone to gather this summer.

In addition, there will be a couple of food trucks that will open at noon to offer lunch.

The Farmers’ Market will be located at the Framingham Centre Common with accessibility to parking.

Restaurants Offering Outdoor Seating this Season

The time we have all been waiting for is here! The Summer is coming, and if you are looking to enjoy the weather eating outdoors, Framingham restaurants are ready for you.

The City Council as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, voted to approve permanent restaurant outdoor dining regulations optimizing the utility of each respective site to add additional seating.

See below the list of restaurants offering outdoor seating this year, including those who took advantage of the City’s new Expedited Outdoor Seating Application.

La Cantina, Italian Cuisine at 911 Waverly St.

Margarita’s, Mexican Cuisine at 725 Cochituate Rd.

Bourbon’s Kitchen and Cocktails at 47 Beacon St.

Panera at 400 Cochituate Rd.

Ken’s Steakhouse at 95 Worcester Rd.

Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers at 100 Clinton St.

Train travel to Framingham, what that might look like

On February 21, several students from Worcester Polytechnical Institute (WPI) shared a number of ideas to reinvent Framingham’s mobility to the Mayor Charlie Sisitsky, City Councilors and members of the business community.

The thoughtful students researched several factors, among these was the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) plan to electrify the commuter rail. This plan not only improves the environmental impact, but also provides more powerful trains that can go on elevated platforms and can transport commuters faster and more often to and from their hometowns. Based on their research, the students proposed elevating the Framingham station’s platform, which would provide ample space for traffic to continue below the station. The students plan also proposes to have more bike lines for easy access to the station, potentially permitting the reduction of parking space around it.

Another piece of their proposal is to have a grade-separated design, where passenger trains travel over an elevated bridge rather than through at-grade crossings. The final portion of their proposal is to move the train station to where the current bus hub is to improve mobility and be closer to larger population densities and commerce.

While this is not a plan in motion, the purpose of the students’ proposal is to stoke conversation by sharing exciting new ideas and highlighting some of Framingham’s transit complications and how solutions can be achieved if the community works together with State and Federal support to decrease congestion and revitalize downtown Framingham.

CHOOSE FRAMINGHAM Website