Waltham Land Trust renews commitment to public Hardy Pond access, pond health  

Over 35 Waltham Land Trust members, local officials and community members gathered at 170 Lakeview Ave. on Saturday to celebrate WLT’s purchase of a new 0.8 acre Hardy Pond-adjacent parcel for conservation and public recreation. The purchase expands Lakeview Preserve, which was purchased by the Land Trust in 2023. The gathering was preceded by a 1-mile WLT-guided tour of Hardy Pond’s Pondside Walkway. 

State funding secured for purchase 

The WLT purchased the new Lakeview Preserve acquisition from Vanessa Lenh this past summer with financial assistance from a 2025 funding earmark facilitated by State Sen. Michael J. Barrett. At the celebration, Barrett remarked that he was confident in directing the earmark because the organization has a “strategy and a long-term plan” for conservation in Waltham.

“At the state level, we in general face a crisis… President Trump [has] withdrawn federal funding from [conserving] open space, from environmental priorities, [and] certainly for climate…,” Barrett explained, “so our budgets are stretched.” 

Barrett noted, however, that “the Waltham Land Trust’s determination to protect this gorgeous spot” was adequate justification for the earmark. 

Purchase expands limited public Hardy Pond access

WLT board member Diana Young shared that between 2011 and present, the Land Trust has acquired five of the six pondside parcels on Lakeview Ave. 

Waltham Historic Commission member, historian, and WLT board member Marie Daly explained that this most recent Lakeview Preserve expansion “essentially opens up this whole stretch of land to the public, whereas this was all private property.”

This wasn’t always the case. For an estimated 10,000 years prior to European colonization, Massachusett and other Indigenous people lived, farmed, and fished along what is now known as Hardy Pond, including the land that is now Lakeview Preserve. 

Daly has documented that these families grew corn, squash and beans near the pond’s shores in the summer and hunted and ice fished on the pond in the winter. 

Starting in the early 1600s, leaders of Watertown, of which Waltham was then a part, began to take over land within its declared borders, displacing the Massachusett from their Hardy Pond homes. European families began to build settlements along the pond and over time, the area became a popular spot for seasonal swimming, camping, boating and ice skating. 

In 1913, private pondside bungalow, camping and farm lots were sold along Hardy Pond for between $20 and $100 each — or between $661.18 and $3,305.88 in today’s dollars, calculating for inflation.

Privatizing Hardy Pond limited public access but the expanded Lakeview Preserve “really opens up the lakefront for enjoyment for the people,” Daly noted.   

Naming the Preserve 

The name ‘Lakeview,’ Daly said, comes from the name of the subdivision created by the most recent group of “developers who split [what is now the Lakeview neighborhood] into tiny lots.” 

The Land Trust considered naming the newly conserved area “Pequuset,” because it is the Pequuset tribe of the Massachusett Tribal Nation that has been documented to live on the site before European settlers displaced them in the 1600s. 

However, the WLT worried that the name might cause confusion due to the existence of a Pequossette Playground in nearby Belmont.

Community grateful to WLT for Hardy Pond conservation and care 

At-Large Councilor Colleen Bradley MacArthur stated that “[t]his land acquisition is another jewel in the crown that is Hardy Pond. It is a combination of the Hardy Pond stewards[’] hard work volunteering to remove invasive plants and plant native plants and the residents who sold their parcel of land after decades of care, as a gift to all.” 

Waltham resident Judy Goldberg said that for several community members, the walk and celebration was their first time visiting Hardy Pond up close and learning more about WLT’s work at the site. 

“We certainly knew of Hardy Pond… [but] we haven’t walked around it… it was a great opportunity.”  

Roselyne Moreau moved to Waltham several years ago to live closer to her daughter’s family. She said that the WLT provides her with opportunities to get to know Waltham through shared interests. “They can show us the beauty, you know?” 

Keeping Hardy Pond healthy and accessible

Cathy Mullooly, WLT Hardy Pond Coordinating Committee member and WLT Steward, led the Pondside Walkway tour. Along the way, she pointed out areas of interest, provided relevant history and answered questions. One theme that emerged at both the walk and the following celebration was planning for Hardy Pond’s future. 

There are invasive plants like Japanese knotweed to manage. The Land Trust would like to extend the Pondside Walkway beyond Graverson Playground. There’s work to be done at the new portion of the Lakeview Preserve including establishing walking paths, removing invasives and planting native plants, and removing a concrete patio. 

The Land Trust would also like to install a viewing platform and better fishing access at Shore Road path. 

Fishing may be on hold because harmful levels of cyanobacteria were detected in Hardy Pond this summer. City and state officials have issued a public health advisory against fishing, swimming, boating and participating in additional activities on the water. The advisory also cautioned people to keep pets away from the pond water. 

Ward 2 Councilor Caren Dunn said that she was surprised to learn recently about the pond’s cyanobacteria problem from WLT founder and board member Marc Rudnick. “This [pond] is really toxic right now,” she said. “It looks beautiful, but you wouldn’t want to touch it.” 

WLT Executive Director Sonja Wadman remarked that the Charles River Watershed Association developed a number of infrastructure recommendations for both the Lakeview Preserve as well as their Smith Point property to help preserve the health of the pond, including bioswales, rain gardens, and other rain runoff and flood mitigation measures. She said WLT hopes to partner with the City of Waltham on these and other WLT-mission-related projects.  

“The Land Trust really won’t stop,” said Rudnick, “until we protect all the land that needs protecting in Waltham.” 

Rudnick will present information on cyanobacteria in Hardy Pond — and its implications — to the Public Works and Public Safety committee on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7:30p.m. in City Hall’s Hoover Room.