LYNNFIELD — Staking out a cross-country running path through an open space area off Essex Street is a family affair for Michael Madden, his siblings and parents.
Madden, 17, is a high school runner who hopes his Pine Hill trail project will help him secure coveted Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout status. He surveyed the 9.5-acre Pine Hill open space area and identified a running path that could be staked out and require minimum tree clearing. Madden started his project last summer and he is quick to credit his sister, Lucy, with originating the path project.
On her way to securing a Girl Scouts of America Gold Award, Lucy Madden developed and researched a townwide open space survey as part of the work required to update Lynnfield’s 2018 Open Space and Recreation Plan.
Top open space recommendations from residents she surveyed included creating paths in the Pine Hill lot for walking and “possibly as part of the Lynnfield High School cross-country route.”
Michael Madden said the half-mile Pine Hill trail is a good off-road practice route for runners with mostly-flat terrain and some modest hills.
Lynnfield cross-country runners are respected in the Cape Ann League with wins, including the 2018 Baker Division CAL Championship; finishing third in the 2019 Division 6 Eastern Mass State Championship and making it to the 2019 All-State meet.
But the high school team lacks off-road running terrain and only trains on pavement. Madden is poised to change that limitation. He has almost finished mapping out his Pine Hill running route and said town public works crews will remove tree debris from the route before it can be used.
Parents Bruce and Erin and brother, Jack, helped him stake out and do some clearing work on the route and he has enthusiastic support from the town Conservation Commission.
“It took a lot of work and hours, but I am proud,” he said.
Paul Martindale, Lynnfield Conservation Commission chairman, said Madden’s idea is not a new one: A proposed trail project has been discussed for many years, but execution has largely been stymied by the magnitude of the effort to define and clear an appropriate cross-country path, Martindale said.
He credited town Planning and Conservation Director Emilie Cademartori with embracing Madden’s plan. Coincidentally, Cademartori had been involved in developing a cross-country trail during her previous employment at the Academy at Penguin Hall.
She met with high school cross-country team coaches Joe DiBiase and Bill Wallace to rough sketch a viable trail. With interest from the school and with a suitable path identified, Madden’s Eagle Scout project proposal secured Troop 48 District Council approval in May, 2019.
In April, 2019, Lynnfield GIS Analyst Patrick McDonald worked with Madden to flag the course and ascertain that the path was within the boundaries of the Pine Hill lot and not encroaching on any abutters’ parcels.
In June, the commission notified all the abutters of its decision to proceed with Madden’s project. Madden provided a project update in fall, 2019 to the Conservation Commission.
Pine Hill Lot has almost always had an open space and recreation designation. In 1929, the 9.5 acre parcel belonged to Mirabeau Fresh Air Camp, Inc. It was deeded to the town in 1960, and at its March 1966 Town Meeting, the town turned over the parcel’s custody and control to the Conservation Commission.
The property has occasionally been eyed for development. In 2002, the town hired MassAudubon to assess the wildlife habitat and recreation value of the property.
As part of its report, Audubon noted that “the site has excellent potential for a walking trail…and is the closest publicly-accessible open space for almost 200 homes in the surrounding neighborhood.”
