'A very big deal for the city'

By BEN LEUBSDORF

Monitor staff

Last modified: 6/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

City and civic leaders were enthusiastic last week at the news that Concord will get $4.71 million in federal grant money to help redesign and rebuild 12 blocks of Main Street.



After all, the money covers 60 percent of the project's estimated cost, instantly turning the plan from a distant possibility into something that could begin construction next year. And the city's grant application had been something of a long shot - out of 703 applications, just 47 projects across the country got money from the U.S. Department of Transportation.



Mayor Jim Bouley called it "a very big deal for the city of Concord." Intown Concord called it "terrific news for downtown." Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce President Tim Sink called it "incredibly good news" and said the project "is likely to be the most significant economic boost to Main Street in the last quarter-century."



For some on Main Street, however, excitement is tempered with caution.



Interviews with a smattering of residents, workers and business owners late last week found many excited about the project. Others were eager to see what happens next - and especially to see if the project's final design will eliminate precious on-street parking spaces.



"I'm highly optimistic, and I think it's great to have the money and now to figure out exactly how to use it," said Mike Cohen, owner of Pitchfork Records, 2 S. Main St. "My concerns are, no matter how beautiful Concord is and how beautiful you make it, if you don't have parking, it's going to be catastrophic. So my main concern is, if anything, to have the plan add some parking, but certainly not take away the parking."



In its grant application, the city proposed rebuilding the road from North Main and Storrs streets to South Main and Storrs streets, narrowing traffic from four lanes to three and widening the sidewalks. The result, advocates said, would be improved traffic flow, enhanced pedestrian safety, improved handicapped accessibility and beautified, tree-shaded sidewalks.



"I think it'd be great if they added trees to the street," said Jarrett Duncan, a lawyer at McLane, Graf, Raulerson, & Middleton who was walking down North Main Street on Friday morning. "Anything they could do to improve the safety, I'm all for."



But the design proposed by Main Street Concord and the now-defunct Concord 2020 had sparked vocal worry from some business owners over the possibility of a long construction project and the elimination of dozens of parking spaces. (Main Street Concord is now called Intown Concord; the Monitor is one of the group's sponsors.)



Bouley plans to appoint a special committee to come up with a final design that can enjoy wide support in the community. He said the city would coordinate with merchants on the construction schedule.



And, Bouley pledged last week, the project will not eliminate parking.



"It's hard to feel good about the plan, not knowing what the plan is," said Laura Miller, owner of Imagination Village, 9 N. Main St.



But, she added, "I'm definitely in favor of downtown Concord getting a facelift," even if she still has concerns about the three-lane design and length of construction. And, she said, "I'm really excited that the city wants to listen to the downtown merchants."



Brian Shea, owner of the Barley House, is a strong supporter.



"My philosophy is, anything that's going to improve downtown, I'm all for it," Shea said. "There may be some temporary inconveniences for some business, including my own, but I'm willing to do that for what's going to be a better Main Street. . . . I think when you're given a grant like that, you have to use it."



But Billy Thompson, who lives on South Main Street, isn't a fan. Sitting on a bench Friday as the temperature climbed toward the 90s, he said he likes Main Street the way it is, because it's "the one street in the city that actually looks like a city."



"To be honest, $4.7 million could be spent better in other places at this time in our economy," Thompson said. "They're not trying to solve a huge problem. They're just trying to make it more convenient. I don't think it's completely necessary."



Historic hurdle







The New Hampshire Employment Security property is likely to be the next big redevelopment project on South Main Street.



With the department's headquarters set to move next fall to the former Tobey School on Pleasant Street, city officials plan to pick a developer to buy the building at 32-34 S. Main St. for some sort of mixed-use project.



But a potential roadblock emerged last year when state officials determined the 1958-era structure was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, triggering a law designed to prevent demolition of state-owned buildings deemed of historical value.



"We are directed as state agencies to condition the sale or transfer with some sort of preservation easement or agreement that protects the historical resources for future generations," State Historic Preservation Officer Elizabeth Muzzey said at the time.



Now, officials have found a solution that will allow the sale of the building to a developer who could then knock it down. The Executive Council last week approved hiring Lisa Mausolf, a Massachusetts-based consultant, to document the building using photographs and historical records.



That will fulfill the state's legal preservation requirement, without the need for an easement that would restrict future demolition or construction, said Tara Reardon, the Employment Security department's commissioner.



Reardon said producing the report will cost $6,000, and an additional $2,000 will be spent to hold "some kind of public workshop" on mid-20th century modern architecture. (Muzzey last year called the Employment Security building "an excellent example of mid-century Modern architecture.")



"The mid-century architecture in Concord and around the country is important to look at," said Van McLeod, commissioner of the state Department of Cultural Resources. He added, "When the train station here in Concord came down in 1960 or 1961 . . . a lot of people didn't think of that as historic as we do today."



Endicott advances







Work is set to begin this summer on CATCH Neighborhood Housing's renovation of the Endicott Hotel, a project that was delayed but not derailed by February's fire at the Green Martini.



The project, converting 36 vacant low-income apartments into 25 market-rate units, was announced last year and had been expected to get under way this month. But a Feb. 12 blaze at the Green Martini, the bar on the building's ground floor, scrambled those plans.



At this point, the conservative estimate is that contractor Cobb Hill Construction of Concord will get to work in early August, said Rosemary Heard, CATCH's president.



"I continue to get inquiries from people who are interested in living there, which is really cool," Heard said.



In addition to the 25 apartments, the four ground-floor commercial units will be rehabilitated, including the former Green Martini. Heard said it's not yet clear who will lease the space after construction.



"Obviously, we would like someone to come back and do something like the Green Martini," she said. "All the infrastructure is there."



Last week, the project took a step forward with the planning board's unanimous approval of CATCH's planned repainting for the building's exterior, including red paint for the turret dome and a sand color for the turret itself - all colors, Heard said, featured on the building during its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.



"It's meaningful to take it back to what it would have looked like when it was beautiful," Heard said.



Coming in strong







U.S. Cellular got the green light last week to expand a cell site atop 132½ to 146 N. Main St.



The carrier had asked the city for permission to replace the three antennas already in place on the rooftop with six antennas, adding 4G coverage for the area.



Last Wednesday, the planning board approved the plan without dissent but added one condition: a shiny metal cable tray should be painted to match the brickwork underneath.



U.S. Cellular said the faster data service should be available later this year.



Stickney spruce-up







The bus station on Stickney Avenue is set to get some repairs.



The Executive Council last week approved a nearly $258,000 contract with Concord Coach Lines, the company that operates the bus station at 30 Stickney Ave.



In addition to subsidizing bus service between Boston and the North Country, the (mostly federal) money will pay for "some things we've needed to do for a while" at the state-owned station, according to Kit Morgan, administrator of the state Department of Transportation's Bureau of Rail and Transit.



The work includes replacing windows, repairs to the heating and ventilation system and replacing the facility's old bike lockers.



"We're not sure exactly (with) what," Morgan said, "but some new place for people to secure their bikes."



(Ben Leubsdorf can be reached at 369-3307 or bleubsdorf@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @BenLeubsdorf.)





