Doyle Community Park and Center
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Doyle Community Park & Center
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 View of Doyle Community Park |
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| location | Massachusetts , United States | |
| surface | 60 ha | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 33 ′ N , 71 ° 46 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | 1981 | |
| administration | The Trustees of Reservations | |
As Doyle Community Park & Center , a 157 is acres (0.6 km² ) great people garden in the city of Leominster in the state of Massachusetts of the United States designated. The addition refers to the Doyle Center integrated into the park . The park and center are managed by The Trustees of Reservations organization.
park
The Doyle Community Park forms a green oasis between the cities of Leominster and Fitchburg with its wooded areas, open meadows and baroque parks . Pierce Meadow , a 10-acre open space in particular, is a popular attraction. The Doyle Center , which was built in 2004, has an area of 14,000 square feet (approx. 1,300 m² ) and has been certified in the LEED classification for its ecological construction with a gold rating . The building is one of three major trustee headquarters in Massachusetts.
Doyle Estate
The former home of the Doyle family, which comprised around 125 acres (50.6 hectares ), is now part of the daily park. The approximately 10 acres (4 hectares) large center occupies a former family house, artistically designed outdoor areas and several buildings, which include a historical gymnasium with attached garage, an unused for maintenance shed, a dog kennel , a garden shed and the Cape House include .
Bernie Doyle bought the home in 1908, which at the time was little more than a Victorian style farmhouse . In the next few years he converted it twice, later another conversion followed by his daughter Louise. With an interest in architecture and history, she spent many years working with landscape architects , interior decorators and other craftsmen to make the building into an elegant and comfortable home. Louise Doyle lived there until her death in 2007.
The house, which towers over three floors, is made of wood and has a full basement. It is in excellent condition thanks to the meticulous maintenance and repair work. The home has 7,450 square feet (690 m²) of living space, six bedrooms, and five and a half bathrooms. In the front part of the house on the ground floor there are representative rooms such as the living room, reception room, dining room or the formally designed entrance hall, while more private rooms such as the kitchen and laundry are located in the rear part of the building. This separation continues on the floor above. The top floor and the cellar are expansive and open.
The gym was added to the garage by Bernie Doyle in the 1920s and was due to the zeitgeist of the time to keep oneself physically fit. The interior of the extensively equipped hall is well preserved. The dog kennel, which was purchased in 1936 and whose construction was also used by Richard Evelyn Byrd for his expeditions, is completely prefabricated. It is laid out on one level, is made of wood and has a roof made of wooden shingles. Louise Doyle used the 380 square foot (approx. 35 m²) building for keeping her dogs.
Although Louise Doyle, a Buddhist , lived alone and withdrawn in her home for 95 years, she demonstrated her commitment to the city of Leominster and its residents by buying all of her property (including 120 acres (48.6 hectares) after her death in 2007) into the care of the Trustees of Reservation. During her lifetime she was a very generous philanthropist who supported a wide variety of projects - from the Little League to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the work of Mother Teresa .
Pierce Meadow
The open space now known as Pierce Meadow was originally part of the estate of Harry L. Pierce, a well-known Leominster businessman. In the center of the property was the Pierce Estate , which was built in the style of Mission Revival architecture and had 21 rooms on two and a half floors. The property also included a greenhouse, stables, barns and other agricultural facilities, as well as a tennis court and a swimming pool. Many of the original plants are still standing today and give the park its simple elegance.
In 1914 Pierce sold the Grayling Hall to Frank Ewing, who owned it until 1930 and then sold it to the poor school sisters of Notre Dame . The school sisters also acquired 17 acres (6.9 hectares) of the surrounding property and used the area as a recreation center for nuns with tuberculosis . In 1941 they opened the Julie Country Day School in the former stable and gradually expanded it. In 1999, the Order sold Grayling Hall to the Trustees after it had been vacant for several years. In 2000, the Trustees demolished the building and began restoring Pierce's former estate. The 10 acres (4 ha) Pierce Park was opened the following year and is now part of the Doyle Community Park. After the School of the Religious Sisters closed in 2006, Louise Doyle bought the building for the Trustees, who resold it to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2010 .
Doyle Center
The Doyle Center offers 18,000 square feet (approx. 1,672 m²) of space for 38 workstations and conference rooms for up to 125 people. A 2000 square foot (186 m²) photovoltaic system has been installed on the roof and two geothermal wells extend 1,500 ft (457.2 m ) down.
The building is designed to save energy. The solar system on the roof supplies 25% of the electricity requirement, and so-called smart lights automatically adjust their brightness to the ambient conditions in order to ensure constant brightness. Windows can open automatically and the geothermal connection means that fossil fuels can be dispensed with entirely. By using composting toilets , no water is wasted at this point, as the flushing takes place with a thin film of foam. There is also a gray water recycling system that is used to water the flower beds. The landscape around the building was designed exclusively with naturally occurring plants and there were no lawns that would have to be artificially watered. 90% of the interiors receive daylight and have a view to the outside.
history
In 1981, Ms. Doyle donated the first 4 acres and one of her homes to the Trustees, beginning her dream of keeping her family home. Over the years, more transfers followed, and in 2004 an important climax was reached with the establishment of the LEED-certified Doyle Center on 50 acres (20.2 hectares) of their land. In 2007, after her death, she left the remaining 120 acres (48.6 hectares) with all the buildings on them to the trustees. Louise Doyle's assignment to the organization to make “ something meaningful ” out of her legacy led to the establishment of what is now Doyle Community Park and Center .
The Doyle Center , which was completed in 2004, was financed with an anonymous donation of US $ 5 million (today approx. 6,750,000 US dollars) and has been certified gold in the LEED classification for its ecological construction .
used material
Various recycled materials were used as building materials.
Work surfaces
The work surfaces (e.g. desk tops) in the Doyle Center were made by a local company from a mixture of sunflower seed casings and other by-products of agricultural production. The material mixture is bound with wheat and natural resins and pressed into Dakota Burl . This composite material looks like naturally grown burl bulbs and behaves like real wood. The work surfaces were finally clad with Douglas fir , the wood of which was also used for the inner structures of the building, so that a coherent overall picture results.
Photovoltaics
The solar system on the roof provides around 25% of the Doyle Center's electricity needs . Excess energy is not stored, but sold to the local supplier via the power grid. In practice, this was solved by the building's electricity meter running backwards as soon as the solar system generates more energy than is currently required in the building.
sink
The panels in which the sinks are embedded are made of Avonit , which is made entirely from recycled materials. There is also no waste in production, as the only by-product is polyester powder , which is resold to other companies that need this raw material for their products. In this way, 136 tons less waste is produced each year that would have to be landfilled.
Bamboo floors
All “hardwood” floors in the Doyle Center are made of bamboo , which has properties similar to conventional hardwood , but is much more environmentally friendly. Since bamboo is a grass plant, it can be harvested up to five times a year if used sustainably. It is abrasion-resistant and has a higher fiber density than wood. The bamboo used for the Doyle Center comes from the Chinese province of Hunan , where the plant has been sustainably grown for centuries.
Cork floors
Cork , which is obtained from the bark of the cork oak , was used as a further floor material . The tree can be harvested for the first time at the age of 25 and then every nine years until the tree is around 200 years old. An 80 year old cork oak can produce up to 225 kg of cork in one harvest. The cork floors were made from the waste products from the production of wine corks and are fireproof as well as thermally and acoustically insulating.
Carpets
The carpets are made from 25% recycled fibers and can be fully recycled. The manufacturer has set itself the goal of producing the carpets entirely from recycled material in the long term and returning them to the cycle at the end of their service life, so that a cradle to cradle cycle can arise.
Wall coverings
For the wall cladding, synthetic resin press wood (Werzalit) was used, which, unlike wood fiber boards, does not warp, bulge, blister, peel or peel off, but looks like real wood. It is made from hardwood chips or sawdust, which is a waste product from furniture production. In contrast to medium-density fibreboard, Werzalit does not contain any urea, formaldehyde or other toxins and does not require a new coat of paint for ten to 15 years.
Insulation boards
The insulation panels installed in the building in suspended ceilings were made entirely from recycled materials - in this case a mixture of recycled polyester.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ About Doyle Community Park & Center. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed December 23, 2013 .
- ^ A b c d Doyle Community Park & Center History. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed December 23, 2013 .
- ^ Doyle Center Facts and Figures. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed December 23, 2013 .
- ^ Doyle Center. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed December 23, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Doyle Center Green Materials. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed December 23, 2013 .
- ↑ Avonite Surfaces. Retrieved December 23, 2013 .
Web links
- Doyle Community Park on TripAdvisor
- Doyle Community Park & Center. (PDF) The Trustees of Reservations , July 2011, accessed December 23, 2013 (English, map of the park).
