For or Against Walmart? There's a Meeting For That
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A proposed Walmart Super Center on Curran Highway has divided the community into pros and cons, with the cons worrying about the effect of the global retailer on local business and pros touting its low prices, selection and added jobs.
Walmart's community relations department has scheduled a "support the super center" meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the American Legion.
"Due to the large amount of support for our project in the North Adams area, this is a meeting we are proactively holding for our supporters in order for them to gather to discuss our company's project," wrote Christopher N. Buchanan, senior manager public affairs and government relations, in an e-mail.
He's right about the numbers if the opposing pages on Facebook are any indication. "We Want a Super Walmart" has more than 800 friends compared to the 320 at "Stop the Walmart Supercenter in North Adams."
The company also mailed out hundreds of postcards to the 01247 ZIP code within the last couple weeks saying how it wanted to better the area through a new, expanded store. It's been gathering names and addresses of supporters on a sign-up sheet just inside the doorway of the current store, also on Curran Highway.
The public advocacy may have been spurred by a well-attended community meeting on Dec. 12 that raised questions about the store's effect on the local business, traffic, employment and other issues.
On the other side, NorthAdamsFirst.com is planning a meeting at 7 p.m. at St. John's Church on Thursday with updates on the proposal and a screening of "Talking to the Wall: The Story of an American Bargain," a documentary by Steve Alves. The hourlong film covers the chain's attempt to build a Walmart in Greenfield in 1993 and the aftermath.
(The developer of the city's Walmart Super Center, Ceruzzi Holdings of Connecticut, has also been trying to win permits for a 160,000 square-foot big box retailer in Greenfield widely believed to be Walmart.)
Walmart proposes to relocate from its current 97,000 square-foot building to a new 160,000-square-foot store a few miles a mile south at the city's former gravel yard across from H. Greenberg & Son's on Curran Highway. It will include a grocery and expanded home and garden and electronics sections; a tire center has been removed from the plan.
NorthAdamsFirst.com grew out of the anti-Walmart Facebook page that appeared within days of the retail giant's filing for permit applications (which in turn, prompted the pro-Walmart page). The Web site's proponents said they wanted the focus to be on how the Super Center would affect the city, not in simply opposing Walmart.
"It's a lot of people who are eager to engage in the civic process and follow this as it goes along and be aware of it," said organizer Sandra Thomas. "We've been encouraged to do so by the incoming administration and that's what we're doing."
In a response posted on the Web site, Mayor Richard Alcombright said, "I think we need a solid anchor and Walmart can be that" but noted the city's "leverage" could mean guarantees to keep existing employees, maintaining staffing levels and investing in septic infrastructure.
The Planning Board will review the permit application at its next meeting on Monday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Note: iBerkshires is friends/fans with both Facebook groups.
