Park for mysterious "chamber" needs volunteer help

Now the mystery is -- will volunteers show up to help create a park around the Upton Chamber?

UPTON

As part of their effort to build a park around the town's most famous and most mysterious landmark, the Upton Historical Commission will host two volunteer work parties at the site of the man-made, beehive-shaped cave popularly known as "the Upton Chamber."

Volunteers are being asked to show up at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 9 and Aug. 23 at the seven-acre site off of Elm Street, which was purchased by the town two years ago.

Theories abound on the stone structure, including that it housed unrecorded European settlers between 2,500 and 3,000 years ago and that it was used for storage during colonial times.

Historical Commission volunteers have begun clearing the park site of invasive plants, said chairwoman Barbara Burke, who hopes to have the park to open sometime in 2010. On the Saturday work days, the Historical Commission will also be offering tours of the park and the cave at 10 a.m., she said.

-- Calvin Hennick