Williamstown Con Comm Clears College Field House Demo
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| An overhead view of Towne Field House with is labeled with features of the demolition plan as part of the college's application to the town. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Conservation Commission Thursday gave the green light to Williams College's plan to demolish its Towne Field House.
The college was before the panel to request a negative determination of applicability under the Wetlands Protection Act for the demolition project near Christmas Brook.
The commissioners found that the college, which plans silt sacks in all storm drains and a silt fence along Latham Street, which runs between the field house and the brook, had adequate erosion measures planned.
The plan also calls for a wash area for trucks entering or leaving the demolition site. Williams Senior Project Manager Shaun Garvey said the water from the wash station will be filtered on-site before being discharged.
Prior to the meeting, Garvey said the college hopes to begin demolition on or about Nov. 6 and it hopes to have it wrapped up before the end of the calendar year.
Perhaps the biggest public impact during that time will be the loss of parking spaces around the field house.
Garvey Thursday said that all of the spaces in the western half of the faculty and staff lot adjacent to the field house will be lost as parking spots during the demolition.
The row of spaces nearest to the field house will be inside the fence surrounding the demo site. The second row of spaces will temporarily be part of the driving lane into the parking lot and job site.
Including the permitted spots to the west of the field house, between 60 and 70 current parking spaces will be lost during the demolition.
"Parking is going to be a challenge, but only for about two months," Garvey said. "Once demolition is over, I'll take the fenced-in area in to about the perimeter of the field house itself."
Williams' last home football game against Wesleyan University is Nov. 4, two days before the target date for the demolition project.
Garvey said that the college is recommending people who normally use the lot between the field house and the Facilities Building to plan on parking in the Weston Field/Taconic Golf Club lot, the municipal lot on Spring Street or the former town garage site on Water Street during the demolition.
As for the demolition itself, Garvey explained that the college plans, for now, only to raze the existing Town Field House structure to grade and not do any excavation. In fact, the field house's indoor track will remain in place after the building comes down while the college comes up with a plan for that part of campus.
The track will be fenced in and off-limits to the public, however.
"It won't be like a public playground,'" Garvey said.
Tags: demolition,
