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Perkins School for the Blind, located on a beautiful 100-year-old campus, is a leader in blindness education, providing education and services to over 94,000 children, adults, families, and professionals in 63 countries. Perkins School for the Blind was awarded a Partners in Preservation grant of $60,000 to restore the historic natural pond on its Watertown, MA campus, improving campus aesthetics, and creating a safe, experiential, nature education site for students, as well as a tranquil feature for all visitors.
What is the historical significance of this site?
Founded in 1829, Perkins School for the Blind links 19th-century Boston heroines like Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, and pioneers in blindness and deafblind education. In 1912 the school opened its permanent home at the former “garden estate” of Josiah Stickney on the Charles River. The English Collegiate Gothic style campus was designed by Richard Clipston Sturgis, known for the Federal Reserve Bank, the Church of the Advent and other Boston sites. A natural feature of the campus, the pond was a year-round oasis for students – boating in spring summer and fall, ice skating in winter – for more than 70 years.
What is the current and proposed use of the site?
Perkins Pond is not in use and has been neglected for almost three decades. Unmanaged vegetation limits views and access to the pond. Restoration will create a place where people who are blind can experience an accessible water resource with a braille nature trail and tactile science models. The pond will be a “classroom” for learning water safety, biology, and environmental science, and will encourage outdoor activities. Renewal will revive historic views, wetland habitat, and allow students access to this natural water and wildlife area.
Why this site needs your continued support:
For 180 years, Perkins School for the Blind has served children, adults, and seniors who are blind, deafblind, visually impaired or have additional disabilities. The historic 1912 campus is at the heart of their work. Restoring the campus pond will allow students to study a natural, outdoor water environment that is home to plants and wildlife such as Green and Great Blue Herons, enhancing the school’s innovative accessible science, horticulture and arboriculture curricula.
For more information, click here.
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