Business

Culture Pop Soda Leasing Part of Former Sasaki Building on Pleasant Street

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The building at 64 Pleasant Street in Watertown has been redeveloped into lab and life sciences space. (Photo by SGA)

The following announcement was provided by Berkeley Investments:

Berkeley Investments (Berkeley) recently announced that Culture Pop Soda, a rapidly growing functional soda brand, will be leasing over 6,000 square feet of space in the company’s 64 Pleasant Street development in Watertown, Massachusetts. 

Culture Pop joins current tenant Via Separations, a growing clean tech startup, which signed a lease for more than 50,000 square feet of Class A lab space last year. Situated along the Charles River in Watertown, 64 Pleasant was recently redeveloped by Berkeley into a dynamic new hub of innovative companies, and was recently the location chosen by Governor Maura Healey to promote her climate tech Initiative investment of $1.3 billion, from the headquarters of Via Separations. “We’re excited to relocate our offices to 64 Pleasant Street in Watertown,” says Tom First, Founder and CEO of Culture Pop Soda and co-founder of Nantucket Nectars. “This building’s rich history of innovation, research and product development is a perfect fit for our brand.

Around Town

REVIEW: SAATh Festival 2024 Brings South Asian Theater to Watertown

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Powerful and complex: Dipanwitha Bhattacharya and Jaideep Banerjee of ENAD Theatre in the Bangla play ‘An (Extra)Ordinary Incident’. Photo by Beena Sarwar. By Beena Sarwar

I went to see “Madho” last night with my mother at the Third South Asia Theatre festival, SAATh 2024, in the Boston area. A musical play set in Lahore, it is written and directed by Sarbpreet Singh, an engineer by profession whose passion is music and storytelling. Based on the timeless tale of the Sufi poet Shah Hussain and the Brahmin youth Madho Laal, who became known as one entity, the story also highlights the syncretic culture of this region.

Government

Watertown Receives $806K in Federal Funds to Study Citywide Speed Limits, Educate and More

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The redesign of Watertown Square will be discussed on June 12. (Photo by City of Watertown)

The following announcement was provided by the Healey-Driscoll Administration:

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll joined US Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, Congressman Seth Moulton and Mayor Jared Nicholson of Lynn to celebrate that Massachusetts communities and two entities have won $25 million to improve roadway safety. The awards include $9.5 million for Lynn to implement low-cost street design changes to reduce the risk of crashes. Watertown received $806,192 to conduct a Safe System Approach Educational Campaign, Citywide Speed Limit Study, and demonstration activities. The activities will include the deployment of traffic calming, pedestrian safety, and bicycle safety treatments including near a nationally-prominent school for the blind and visually impaired.

Entertainment

See Small Saves’ Word of the Day in This Week’s Cartoon

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Around Town

Library Bookmobile and Watertown Chats Visiting Lexington Gardens

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Watertown Chats and the Library Bookmobile are teaming up! The next Watertown Chats will be hosted at the Lexington Gardens Learning Center at 38 Philip Darch Road on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. in a joint event with the Library Bookmobile! All are welcome to come chat, ask questions, or raise concerns with Community Engagement Specialist, Tyler Cote, about anything Watertown, and then visit the Bookmobile before or after to checkout a book! No appointments are needed, and we encourage everyone to stop by! To learn more, visit watertown-ma.gov/chats.

Around Town

16 Watertown Residents Joining the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk

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The following announcement was provided by the Jimmy Fund:

Sixteen Watertown residents, along with thousands of other walkers, will participate in The Jimmy Fund Walk. The iconic annual event will unite the community to raise funds to support all forms of adult and pediatric care and research at the nation’s premier cancer center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Walk has raised more than $176 million for Dana-Farber in its 35-year history, raising a record-breaking $9.4 million in 2023. 

“For 35 years, the Jimmy Fund Walk has continuously supported lifesaving research and cancer care at Dana-Farber. Our goal is to build off of the momentum we’ve established throughout that history, and in 2024, aim to surpass our total from last year by raising $9.5 million,” says Caitlin Fink, assistant vice president of event fundraising. “Fighting cancer is what we do.

Around Town

O’some Cafe Taking Over Cafe in the Watertown Library

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Watertown LibraryThe Watertown Free Public Library. The Watertown Free Public Library Board of Library Trustees shared the following announcement:

The Red Leaf Café will be leaving its location in the Watertown Free Public Library on September 30, 2024. Thank you to Donald Bleech for his dedicated service to this community during the past 15 years. Donald has been a fixture in our library, and he will be missed. There will be an interruption to cafe and vending services beginning October 1, 2024.

Around Town

Improvements to Saltonstall Park to Start Soon, Includes Permanent Stage

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Work will soon begin on the improvements to Saltonstall Park. (Courtesy of the City of Watertown)

The following information was provided by the City of Watertown:

We are excited to announce that the Saltonstall Park Improvements Project will begin in the second week of October, 2024. Construction will continue from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025 and the upper Saltonstall Park work area will be closed to the public during this time. The project includes upgrades to the walkways, stairs, and the installation of a new permanent stage. Further information can be found on the Saltonstall Park webpage.