Conservation Lands
Daniel & Carmela Bartolomei Conservation Area
The serendipity of topography, a paved driveway and a cleared area where a house once stood suggested a new opportunity for conservation land when the town purchased 6.87 acres overlooking the Coonamessett River from the children of Daniel and Carmela Bartolomei in June 2009.
The open area is on a gradual slope above the river and Pond 14, a small pond of about 5 acres; a level stretch of ground below the slope continues into woods to the edge of the property. The 300 Committee has started planning to establish the town’s first handicapped accessible trail on this level ground and to add benches and picnic tables, including one to accommodate wheelchairs, where visitors will have a lovely view of the water. A small wooden platform will be placed on the bank of the river for kayak access, and a trail for able-bodied visitors will be established at the back of the parcel, which dips down and up through a spring-sapping valley. The 300 Committee hopes these improvements will be completed by the spring of 2010. Bartolomei is also another link in the creation of a Coonamessett River greenway. The property will be permanently protected with a conservation restriction. A partnership of funding sources made this $1 million acquisition possible. The town contributed $310,375 in Community Preservation Act funds: the state awarded a LAND grant of $473,625; The 300 Committee donated $200,000; and the remainder came from mitigation funds designated for open space by the Cape Cod Commission.
Access to the Bartolomei Conservation Area is on Sandwich Road, between John Parker Road and the Cape Cod Winery.
