Historical Commission cuts Dudley Woods signage from five panels to one

WAYLAND -- September 9, 2024, Wayland Historical Commission consolidates Dudley Woods signs and seeks engine-house excavation estimate. At its Sept. 9 meeting the commission agreed to compress a planned five-panel interpretive series at Dudley Woods into a single sign of roughly 200 words, citing budgets of $2,500 for Dudley Woods and $1,900 for Castlegate. Commissioner R. Richard Conard presented a draft letter to the Public Archaeology Laboratory seeking an updated cost for excavating the former railroad engine house; PAL's Suzanne Cherau had quoted $25,000 to $75,000 in 2021, excluding masonry restoration. Designer Carol Holtz has proposed $800 for design development plus $350 per sign for layout across a 12-sign rail-trail template. Members also disclosed roughly $26,000 paid to date on the cemetery preservation contract, with Commissioner Amanda Ciaccio saying of communication lapses, "I feel like we're supposed to be running the project, and yet we don't know about stuff like this."