Shumlin touts downtown redevelopment

Gov. Peter Shumlin told Springfield business leaders Thursday there was more downtown redevelopment going on in Springfield than any other community in the state.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20111105/NEWS02/711059948

Published November 5, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
Shumlin touts downtown redevelopment

By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Peter Shumlin told Springfield business leaders Thursday there was more downtown redevelopment going on in Springfield than any other community in the state.

Shumlin spoke at the annual meeting of the Springfield Regional Development Corp., which was held at the Great Hall at the former Fellows Gear Shaper complex.

“It’s a remarkable recovery story,” the governor said on the anniversary of his election last November.

Shumlin, who grew up in Westminster West and Putney, said he used to drive by the Fellows complex for years and hope that a way could be found to redevelop the former machine tool plant, which dates to the end of the 19th century.

“Will it survive? I have driven by this building all my life,” the governor said. “I tell the Springfield story everywhere I go.”

Shumlin listed recent development projects in town that ranged from the new Springfield Parent Child Center to the proposed Winstanley biomass project in the North Springfield Industrial Park. Other major redevelopment projects include the former Jones & Lamson Machine Tool Co. in Springfield, where brownfield cleanup has started after years of study and delay.

Shumlin said that some parts of Windsor County were hard hit by Tropical Storm Irene, and he noted the Simon Pearce company in Quechee, an internationally known glassblowing firm, spent $2 million in 18 days to recover from the flooding.

Unlike its neighbors, Springfield escaped largely unscathed because of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ North Springfield Flood Control Dam.

Shumlin said that the state got “whacked” by Irene, which he said could be the worst flood in the history of Vermont.

“The level of devastation and the amount of pain” was enormous, Shumlin said.

But, he said, the most important thing was how Vermonters reached out to one another and helped each other recover.

Two months later, he said, the recovery is well under way, with hundreds of roads and bridges repaired and reopened.

The three major roads still closed are in Windsor County: Route 131 in Cavendish, Route 106 in Weathersfield and Route 107 in Stockbridge. Route 131, which was dubbed the Cavendish Gorge due to its severe washout near the village of Cavendish, is due to reopen this weekend.

Members of Shumlin’s economic development team accompanied him to Springfield, including Patricia Moulton Powden, deputy secretary of the Agency of Commerce, who at one time in her career was the executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corp.

Bob Flint, the current executive director, outlined the year of accomplishments for the 50 people gathered in what is now being called The Great Hall, part of the $13 million development of the Fellows complex by One Hundred River Street LLC.

Rick Genderson, one of the principals of One Hundred River Street LLC, said the redevelopment project was a little behind schedule as the former factory and mill had contamination issues that kept popping up. Springfield Medical Systems is moving its doctors’ offices and clinics into the building, and Genderson said that he was negotiating with several businesses, including two restaurants, to move into the building. Another potential tenant is an assisted living facility, he said.

Genderson, who is from Washington, D.C., said The Great Hall, a large three-story, clerestory space that serves as the new Pearl Street entrance to the reconfigured building, would serve as a public space for Springfield and also serve as an art gallery.

“We’re close. We should be done in the next month,” Genderson said.