ATHOL — Late last month, a group of Athol officials and residents reviewed initial plans for transforming the sea of asphalt that is the Lord Pond Plaza parking lot into an inviting downtown community green space. The plans, known as a “30 percent design,” were unveiled at a meeting at the plaza on May 25. The proposal includes removal of much of a portion of the parking lot to once again expose Mill Brook, which now flows beneath the asphalt, thus turning it into an attraction for residents and visitors to the area.
“Most of the people who attended that meeting,” Athol Planning and Development Director Eric Smith told the Athol Daily News, “seemed to be in support of the concept of daylighting (Mill Brook). I’ve only heard from a couple of people who appear to be against daylighting, and one of the reasons one person expressed was concern about the very steep slopes from the stream back up to the parking lot area. They were concerned motorists would end up going down the slope and into the stream.
“But the design team took those concerns into account, so it doesn’t really have that steep topography anymore. There’s more of a gentle grade to it now.”
Smith said one concern of everyone involved is the potential for contaminated soil lying beneath the asphalt.
“We do plan to do what’s called a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment,” he said. “But because the DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) only makes those good for six months after they’re done, before any improvements or construction takes place, we aren’t wanting to do that Phase 2 until next year sometime, when we’re closer to the six-month timeframe. So, that’s where we are on the contamination side of things right now.
“It would be considered a brownfields site. We did do a Phase 1 last year, which basically consists of a visual inspection and research of documents and plans on file at Town Hall, as well as other sources. That provides sort of a history of the area that could reveal some kind of potential contamination of the area.”
A Phase 2 assessment would include soil testing, borings, and monitoring of wells to test what’s in the water.
“We don’t really know what’s there until we do those activities,” said Smith.
At an initial meeting last year, during which three potential designs were unveiled, some residents complained that neither of the proposals included enough community green space. Smith said the latest plan includes about an acre of green space and proposes rehabilitating land that lies behind the town’s senior center. That would include what Smith called “patio space,” as well as space for a community garden.
Downtown Vitality Committee Chair Mary Holtorf, who had pushed for more community green space at the initial meeting, said the latest plan represents an improvement over the original proposals.
“I think they’ve made some progress,” she told the Athol Daily News. “I think it’s coming along. There’s still a lot of — I guess I would call it ‘tweeking’ — to be done, and some things to be considered as far as property ownership, working with abutters. But, in general, I think the plan has come along quite a bit from the first three options that they presented.
“There’s actually a lot more daylighting of Mill Brook than I thought there would be, which could be a good thing. I think that still will depend on any potential cleanup that has to be done. But they seem relatively comfortable with designing with the most daylighting they could get in.”
Holtorf said decisions still need to be made regarding access and egress to the area.
“I don’t think the Main Street entrance between Cumberland Farms and Elev8 should be closed off at all,” she said. “I think that’s really the main entrance, and that’s where you get the best visibility of what’s in the plaza — and it has less conflict with the Post Office. I would prefer that that stay wide open. It makes everything in Lord Pond visible and it connects it to downtown.”
One proposal called for making that entrance one-way heading into the plaza, with exit via either Exchange and/or Freedom streets.
Holtorf also said some accommodation will need to be worked out regarding property behind Domino’s Pizza and Cumberland Farms, property which truckers have come to use as a stopover. That, she said, would require negotiations with those property owners. There have been some discussions, Holtorf added, about having trucks park in the lot near South Street.
“There are still some details to be worked out,” said Holtorf, “but, generally, I think we’re heading in the right direction to have more open space. I do hear the concerns about Mill Brook, but I think the daylighting of waterways like this is being done all over the world to revitalize these waterways. I think it can be worked out safely.”
The next step in the process is development of a “70 percent design,” which will likely be unveiled sometime next year. Design work is being done by BCS Group of Boston.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com