Athol Historical Commission endorses Lord Pond Plaza name change

ATHOL – The Historical Commission voted unanimously to endorse changing the name of Lord Pond Plaza to Mill Brook Crossing, following a community survey in which the majority of respondents supported the new name.

The final decision will be made by the Selectboard at its meeting on July 7.

At the commission’s meeting on June 23, Planning and Development Director Eric Smith presented the results of the public survey which asked residents how they feel about renaming Lord Pond Plaza.

The issue has arisen as work continues on the daylighting of Mill Brook, which ran beneath the shopping center’s parking lot, along with the addition of green space, and creation of a well-defined roadway through the property.

The survey had two questions; “Are you in favor of changing the name of the plaza to ‘Mill Brook Crossing?’” and “Are you in favor of keeping the name of the plaza as ‘Lord Pond Plaza?’”

For the first question, 291 people weighed in, with 164, or 56.4%, agreeing the name should be changed. The second question had 285 responses, with only 124 people, or 43.5%, in favor of keeping the existing name.

“There were some people who wanted to honor both with one long name,” said Smith. “That’s always an option.”

Commission Chair JR Greene asked if there was a consensus among members regarding the name of the plaza, which was built on the site between Freedom and Exchange streets in the mid-1960s. Member Bernie Brouillet pointed out that the Lord family was prominent in Athol, having operated a brick and sawmill near in the downtown area.

“If we have that family name, which is so prominent here, should we retain that name or support the concept of changing the name?” Greene asked.

“Lord Pond has lasting viability, however, there is no pond there,” Brouillet responded. “There was a pond there once, and the brook out of the pond, which I assume is still flowing, that went into a branch of the Millers River.”

“That’s why I would think it might be a logical thing to continue with that name,” said Greene. “Mill Brook Crossing suggests a bridge over a stream or something like that. Lord Pond covers much more of the territory.”

Mary Holtorf, a member of the Downtown Vitality Committee, who was in attendance said, that from the viewpoint of downtown revitalization, there’s more potential for development around that area.

“Even the building the Chinese restaurant (Eight Dragons Take Out) is in is underutilized,” she said. “And there’s huge potential for the building the town owns, where the senior center and the veterans center are. So, that was kind of the concept behind Mill Brook Crossing, because the brook runs that whole stretch along there.”

Smith pointed out that the new road through the plaza will be named Mill Brook Way, running from Main Street to South Street. He said that Mill Brook Crossing was suggested by Town Manager Shaun Suhoski when the new road was given its name.

After more consideration, commission member Jean Shaughnessy made a motion to endorse changing the name to Mill Brook Crossing, which was agreed upon unanimously.

“We can go with what the survey said, and maybe later we could add ‘at Lord Pond Plaza’,” she added.