'Neighborhood Renaissance'

WORCESTER – Carl C. Gomes wants to build a wall.

No, not that wall – the Mexican border is not his concern – but he does want to make his own little section of America great again.

“When that wall comes down, it will be like manna from heaven,” the 62-year-old said last week outside the decades-old wall that separates West Boylston Drive from the Interstate 190 off-ramp.

The weathered structure looks, in parts, like the scene of a drive-by shooting. Riddled with holes and referred to by neighbors as the “ugly brown wall,” it has long been a bane for those who pass it daily.

So it will be welcome news to the neighborhood that after nearly four decades, the wall’s days are numbered. Mr. Gomes, who peppered the state with calls and emails about his distaste for the structure, is happy to report the state plans a half-million-dollar replacement.

The wall will be strong – made of UV-resistant polyvinyl chloride – and functional, as its interlocking sections will make for easier repairs and will absorb and reflect sound.

For Mr. Gomes, an energetic former probation officer who goes on philanthropic missions abroad, the wall is a bid to improve aesthetics and cohesion in his neighborhood. This sentence has been corrected. Mr. Gomes was a probation officer.

At a time when city leaders label downtown development a renaissance, Mr. Gomes believes residents need to bring the momentum to their own streets and restore a sense of pride and civic duty.

“Make West Boylston Drive Great Again,” reads a large American flag-themed sign the spry retiree posted atop his picket fence at 55 West Boylston Drive. Mr. Gomes is no fan of President Donald J. Trump – he emphasized that numerous times – but he is a fan of quirky humor, as anybody who watches his recent YouTube video would discern.

“Nobody likes weeds,” the tall, beanie-clad retiree, who has dubbed himself the “Weed Man of Worcester,” says to the camera, his hands flailing. “Some people do, but we don’t (in this neighborhood).”

Mr. Gomes’ energy, acquaintances say, is one of the first things they notice. He displayed that energy during a recent interview, rolling quickly under a padlocked iron fence to show an area of state land he’d like to see developed.

Mr. Gomes will host a meeting Wednesday to solicit input for neighborhood improvements. He has yet to build a large following of neighbors. But many have noticed the 6-foot-2 man whacking weeds and raking leaves around the wall.

“I’d never seen anyone working to help try and take care of the neighborhood like that,” said Justin Forku, owner of 290 Auto Body down the street. “You see (the sign) and say, ‘OK, what is he doing?’ ”

What Mr. Gomes was doing was clearing out land across from the three-decker he’s owned for 26 years. He laid down a patch of fresh mulch, and hoped maybe neighbors would follow.

They didn’t. So now Mr. Gomes, armed with “Make West Boylston Drive Great Again” flyers he’s been stuffing into mailboxes from his old truck, hope to press the point in the coming weeks.

“This city has to be a collaboration of efforts – of neighbors helping themselves, and the city participating,” said Mr. Gomes. If a true renaissance is to be realized, he said, it will need to be cultivated by people.

Making an impression

Mr. Forku was admittedly wary the day Mr. Gomes walked into his office with a bunch of maps and plans.

“He comes in and says, ‘I’m the weed man,’ ” Mr. Forku recalled. “I’m thinking, ‘I hope he’s not starting a weed (store) here.’ ”

But when he heard Mr. Gomes’ energetic pitch, Mr. Forku was intrigued. In addition to cleaning up the streets, Mr. Gomes proposed recruiting “street captains” for each area street to report problems and brainstorm improvements.

“If the city of Worcester really wants to get on the map, it’s the people that need to do it,” Mr. Forku said. “It’s not the buildings you put up downtown – it’s the people that make the difference.”

Mr. Gomes believes the city needs to do a better job stressing aesthetics at its gateways.

“The impression right now from the gateways is not a city on the move, to me,” he said.

In addition to rallying neighbors to be more neighborly, he’d like to see a community garden in front of the new wall. And someday, he’d like neighbors to finally buy in to a plan to do something with 149 West Boylston Drive, a 4-acre plot off I-190 that’s been a subject of controversy in recent years.

“Picture it tree-rimmed,” Mr. Gomes said, driving his 17-year-old truck into the breakdown lane and gesturing at the vegetation.

“I hate weeds,” Mr. Gomes said.

Mr. Gomes envisions some sort of park or higher use for the land, with a mural painted by city students that would face Indian Lake. At public meetings in 2013, neighbors opposed the idea of anything at the site.

“I just want to start a conversation,” Mr. Gomes said, adding that he understands nothing is likely to happen at the site in the short-term.

Robert C. Antonelli Jr., the city’s assistant commissioner of public works and parks, reiterated last week that there are no plans for the parcel at the moment.

The city already has millions of dollars planned for projects at other spots along the lake.

At the 2013 meetings, Mr. Antonelli said, many neighbors “saying, ‘Why are you going to bring on a new park when you haven’t repaired any of the parks that are already there?’ ”

Beth Proko, president of the Indian Lake Watershed Association, said her organization agrees that the city’s other projects should take precedence.

But she’d like to see something there someday, and complimented Mr. Gomes on his work with the wall.

“I think his advocacy has been paramount in moving (the replacement) forward,” she said.

Ms. Proko agreed that as city leaders pledge to invigorate neighborhoods along with downtown, residents need to make themselves heard.

“It’s people like Carl, like the Lake Association, all these neighborhood groups that need to speak up and make sure all their areas are not forgotten,” she said.

Building a team

Several people in the area are fans of Mr. Gomes’ efforts.

“As soon as Carl put that sign up, it woke up the city,” said Andrew Hallaman, who believes officials are now paying closer attention to the neighborhood.

Mr. Gomes said some residents are, too. He smiled as he recalled a 10-year-old boy coming to help him in November as he toiled with a rake outside the wall alone.

“He told me, ‘I’ve lived here 7 years. This is the first time anybody’s ever tried to do something about (this mess). I want to help.’ ”

Mr. Gomes estimated he spent more than 100 hours clearing debris from behind the wall. Finally, the state, which owns the land, sent a work team and removed “40 years’ worth” of “jungle” in one day, he said.

Mr. Hallaman, a former West Boylston Drive resident whose father owns properties there, used to mow the state property in front of the wall when the grass grew tall.

“It was such a process to get (city or state officials) to do anything,” he said, that he’d go and paint over spots on the wall, too, when kids tagged it with spray paint.

Mr. Hallaman said he hopes Mr. Gomes’ energy will get others around him involved. So does Lou Ann Branche, a high-energy octogenarian who Mr. Gomes mistook for a decade younger.

“I think Carl is a very interesting fella,” said Ms. Branche, an aptly named tree-lover who has a house on Sears Island.

Ms. Branche particularly likes an idea of Mr. Gomes’ for more trees on West Boylston Street. An environmentalist and “tomboy” who spent her summers at lumber camps in Canada, she said the city ought to be planting as many trees as it can.

“What are you going to do to get people to keep buying houses? You’ve got to create a (nice) environment,” she reasoned.

Ms. Branche agreed Mr. Gomes has a tall task in getting people involved. But she said he hopes his meeting will at least draw a small core of dedicated volunteers.

“I just want to get the party started,” said Mr. Gomes, who learned long ago that getting discouraged isn’t much help.

Mr. Gomes’ meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Immaculate Conception Church, 353 Grove St. He asks that anyone interested in his efforts contact him at (508) 450-3374 or carlcgomes56@icloud.com.