North Adams Seeks Grant To Continue Work at Heritage State Park
 North Adams is applying for a second MassWorks grant to complete upgrades at Western Gateway Heritage State Park, including a pedestrian/bike bridge over the rail line to West Main Street. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city will apply for a $1,636,269 MassWorks Infrastructure Grant to be used to begin Phase 2 of the Heritage State Park Transformation Improvement project.
The grant will target four areas of the park including replacing the outdated pedestrian foot bridge. Community Development Director Michael Nuvallie said at Monday's public hearing on the grant that the bridge is the "big ticket item" claiming $1.105 million from the possible grant funds.
"The pedestrian foot bridge is almost like a project in in of itself," Nuvallie said. "It's old, the railroad wishes it could be a little higher, and … the easiest way to skin that cat is to dismantle that bridge and put a new pedestrian bridge up."
In order to receive federal funds for the eventual bike trail that is planned to run through the city and connect with Adams and Williamstown, a new wider bridge is a necessity.
Nuvallie added that Heritage State Park is a great place for the bike trail to run through.
"Going through Heritage State Park makes a whole lot of sense because it give the bicyclists a chance to rest, do some shopping, maybe grab some lunch, and continue on with their trek," he said.
The new bridge fits in with Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts' plans to develop its southern entrance on West Main Street and include the planned extension of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail into its $65 million expansion.
Having the Heritage State Park and rail trail projects connected is also expected to help the city's chances of capturing the grant. Although the grant is competitive, Nuvallie the state has already shown a willingness to invest in the project.
The park this year has seen new landscaping including pavers, lighting and concrete seating as part of an $881,000 MassWorks granted awarded in late 2012.
Nuvallie said the rest of the funds will be used to finish landscaping work the original grant didn't cover, adding decorative fences between the park and the railroad, adding new lights, parking lot improvements, and mural space.
Nuvallie added that the city is also hoping to benefit from the new Community Compact program, which provides municipalities in need with state resources. He said the program could help the city update its Urban Renewal Plan, which has not been altered since the 1980s. He said the current Heritage Sate Park urban renewal plan does not include the southern and northern nodes of the park; this includes the Sons of Italy building purchased in 2011.
"It would just makes sense to formally and finally capture those nodes within an urban renewal plan and to see what kind of technical assistance can we get from the government to help bring this urban renewal plan up to snuff to modern day," he said
Mayor Richard Alcombright said many of the things the state asked the project to include are not in the antiquated plan and it makes sense to update it now.
He added that an updated plan will allow the city to take a "whole step back" and see how various projects in the city such as the Hoosic River Revival and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts renovations impact the park.
The mayor said private investment in the park is still the city's goal, even though the developers originally queued up to manage the park are currently out of the deal. The resources and continued infrastructure improvements, he said, could help keep the door open for future private investors.
"Albeit the Greylock Market as we know it is, according to the headline, is dead, we don't think it is, and we don't think privatization is dead," the mayor said. "Bringing the core infrastructure up can only make it more attractive to private investment."
Nuvallie agreed with the mayor and said it would not be right to abandon a project that is 60 percent complete. He said developing the market will, hopefully, allow the city to capture some of the tourists who visit Mount Greylock State Reservation and turn the North Adams entrance to the mountain into a more popular one.
He added that along with the bike trail, the market will help support the city's economy.
"It is an economic generator, and people go out of their way to go to communities where there are bike paths," he said. "They will spend a weekend in town and explore anything and everything they can get their hands on. They will stay over and they will shop and eat; it's an attraction."
Tags: Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, economic development, Heritage State Park, MassWorks grant, pedestrians,
