Main Street 'streetscape' project underway

Springfield residents will be asked next month during Market Madness for their ideas on what downtown Springfield needs, as part of a $75,000 master plan being launched by the town and Springfield On The Move.

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Published July 30, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Main Street ‘streetscape’ project underway By SUSAN SMALLHEER SPRINGFIELD — Springfield residents will be asked next month during Market Madness for their ideas on what downtown Springfield needs, as part of a $75,000 master plan being launched by the town and Springfield On The Move. Earlier this year, the town and SOM received the grant from Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Agency of Commerce & Community Development to help it come up with a strategic downtown plan, said Town Manager Tom Yennerell. The first meeting of the steering committee was held Thursday at the Springfield Town Hall. Yennerell said town and state officials had recently hired Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., or GPI, a national consulting group, to do the study. GPI has offices all over the country, including offices in White River Junction. He said GPI would have a booth at next month’s Market Madness on Aug. 20 to gauge public concerns and to take public input. He said there would also be public hearings later in the fall. Yennerell said that the town received seven good proposals from different consultants, and GPI was selected. One of the major goals of the project is creating a riverwalk along River Street, stretching from the pedestrian bridge that connects One Hundred River Street to River Street itself, down to the Hanley building, which is locally known as the “Plywood Palace.” Yennerell said the river walk would create a park-like area along the Black River to take advantage of one of the most scenic — but unappreciated — areas of downtown. The plan would still leave plenty of room for parking, Yennerell said. He said that the owners of One Hundred River Street fully supported the river walk project. .Yennerell said GPI last year had purchased a White River Junction architectural consulting company, and the principals from that former company would be leading the Springfield study. Yennerell said that ORW Landscape Architects and Planners had earned a strong reputation in Vermont, designing many successful projects, in communities like Barre City, Bennington and White River Junction, as well as an ambitious $14 million project for the state of New Hampshire at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and recent streetscape improvements in front of the Hanover Inn in Hanover, New Hampshire. Yennerell said that Thursday morning meeting was a “get acquainted meeting” with people involved in the project on hand. He said after the Market Madness booth, those involved with the project hope to hold some kind of open house in November. He said that GPI has enlisted the help of other consultants who have worked in Springfield on other projects, including Maclay Architects, which designed the restoration of the Ellis Block. GPI, in its presentation, said it wanted to take advantage of the “momentum” created by the Ellis Block renovation after a devastating fire, as well as the renovation of the former Fellows Gear Shaper plant, now known as One Hundred River Street, after decades of neglect. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160730/NEWS02/160739980