The new Onset Bay Center is nearly complete, and its newest addition adds a sense of style to the facility, while also benefiting the environment around it. 

Renovated from the old Onset Bathhouse, the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s new facility is designed to bring on-the-water programming like kayaking and sailing to the people of Wareham and surrounding communities. 

In an effort to boost the aesthetics of the building, and keep to the coalition’s goal of being environmentally responsible, coalition staff recently installed a “green roof” on top of the Onset Bay Center.

A section of the Onset Bay Center’s roof is now covered in four inch tall succulents. According to Katherine Garofoli, the head of the center, the succulents came from a company in Connecticut, and were placed by Buzzards Bay Coalition staff and volunteers from AmeriCorps Cape Cod. 

In addition to being able to “ accent the view here on Onset Bay,” Garofoli said that the green roof of succulents has the added benefit of being able to absorb stormwater, which will help reduce runoff, and lower the potential for pollution to reach the nearby groundwater.

Garofoli added that a similar vegetation roof has been a longstanding feature at the coalition’s headquarters in New Bedford.

At the new Onset facility, Garofoli said the succulents should be able to stay on the roof year-round, and will be able to change with the seasons, adding to the view of the center. 

She added that they will be easy to remove if necessary, because they are planted on a series of modules, each measuring three square-feet.

Programming at the Onset Bay Center is scheduled to begin this summer, and is subject to changes based on Governor Charlie Baker’s phased plan to reopen Massachusetts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.