2019, July 1
There will be a grand party hosted by the Preservation Trust of Vermont to celebrate the preservation of the land and the prior week’s installation of the Whales Dance on Wednesday, July 24th from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. This event is free and open to the public, so please attend with your friends and family.
2019, March 21
Randolph Community Orchard is now the proud owner of the 22-acre Exit 4 property! And the Vermont Act 250 application for Whale Dance was approved which means the installation of the sculpture can proceed (once the snow has melted).
Local Hero 2018 Gala
From the CLF newsletter, the photo of the E4OS members who attended the gala to accept the award on behalf of all Exit 4 Open Space members and supporters. Click on the photo to read about the night in Conservation Matters Winter 2019.
During our group’s members a self-imposed year of deserved rest and reflection of our successful conservation effort, The Preservation Trust of Vermont didn’t slow down. They purchased the 22 acres, for which there was a tremendous outpouring of support through donations. After requests for concepts and a subsequent venting process to find a long-term caregiver and steward of the property, a young couple from Randolph Center has been chosen. In fact, the couple has started to cultivate the land in this first of many growing seasons. The good news doesn’t stop there.
The Preservation Trust of Vermont is proud to state the sculpture work of Randolph’s own, Jim Sardonis, is to be installed on a half acre of the 22-acre site. Mr. Sardonis is recreating his beloved ‘Reverence’, remembered by locals as the Whales Tails, which once graced the same spot 29 years ago. Once more at Exit 4, we are looking forward to the unveiling of the bronze sculpture, ‘Whale Dance’, in 2019.
Exit 4 Open Space is humbled and privileged to announce the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is recognizing our grass-roots effort. We are to be honored for our good work as a “Local Hero” by CLF along with a local hero from each of the other New England states. We are excited to accept the award representing not only every Vermont community but, also, all those individuals and corporations who stood alongside us in our conservation effort. The ceremony is held at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse situated on the beautiful Boston seaport on December 3rd, 2018.
Review how far we have come in our quest to conserve our farmland, scenic views, and downtown:
The Mission
The Marathon
The Victory Lap
To view the finished version of the below video, click here.
Exit 4 Open Space is a group of Randolph area residents who believe that the proposed development of the “Green Mountain Center” at Exit 4 would permanently damage the working landscape of this region, the viability of our unique downtown, and local tourism. This mixed-use project, totaling 1,150,000 square feet located on 172 acres, would have replaced an iconic view shed and prime agricultural land with large-scale development designed to profit non-local entities, which would have adversely impacted our local economy. The promise of good jobs for local people has been elusive at other, similar, interstate development projects. The community we cherish would never recover if the proposed development proceeds. Also, large-scale development at Exit 4 would damage this valuable resource appreciated by travelers through central Vermont.
Therefore, we came together as Exit 4 Open Space to alert the citizens of the region as to the consequences of this development proposal. We performed research, attended hearings, provided testimony, distributed information and spared no effort to protect our way of life based in a working landscape, not urban sprawl.
Willie Nelson singing old standard about the Green Mountain State, Moonlight in Vermont. Take a listen…no mention of concrete, steel, or asphalt
Exit 4 Open Space 