ATHOL – Local and state officials cut the ribbon to Mill Brook Crossing, formerly Lord Pond Plaza, the final step in a project that began in 2020.
The event marked the completion of the years-long, $3 million effort to transform the center’s parking lot from six acres of moisture-impervious, heat-reflecting blacktop into “a greener, safer, and more climate-resilient community destination,” according to information provided by Planning and Development Director Eric Smith.
Completion of the project has resulted in 500 linear feet of Mill Brook being daylighted, which improves stream connectivity and aquatic habitat; creation of 12,000 square feet of new wetlands and additional pollinator and wildlife habitat; the planting of more than 80 new trees, thus expanding the downtown tree canopy and reducing urban heat island impacts; and rain gardens, bioswales, porous pavement, and other lower-impact stormwater infrastructure to reduce runoff and improve water quality.
“About seven years ago, we embarked on an effort to develop a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Plan for the town of Athol,” Smith told those gathered. “We wanted to look at how we could be more resilient to the impact of climate change and one of the things we found out from working on this project was that the Lord Pond Plaza area was a heat island.”
This meant that in the summer, the plaza increased the temperature in the surrounding area, including downtown Athol.
At a public meeting in February 2020, Smith explained, the priority project identified was the greening of “what has been known for many years as Lord Pond Plaza. The idea of daylighting Mill Brook [which ran beneath the parking lot] emerged at that time.”
Over the years, the town received $190,000 in state MVP Action Grant funding to pay for the engineering and design of the project, followed by another MVP grant of $3 million to cover the cost of construction. Another $250,000 came from the MassDOT Complete Streets program to pay for new sidewalks throughout what is now Mill Brook Crossing.
In addition to the environmental benefits derived from the project, the area has also been made safer for motorists and pedestrians. Smith described the former wide-open parking lot as a “free-for-all” for pedestrians and drivers.
“It’s been a long project, but as you look at it, how wonderful it is,” said state Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol. “Understand the temperature of downtown Athol was generally several degrees hotter than other places because of the pavement. So, to have this greenway flow through it, it helps the environment for the folks who live and work and visit our downtown area.”
Katherine Antos, undersecretary for decarbonization for the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, explained that early in the planning process, Athol residents identified the town’s most significant heat islands and flood-prone areas.
“Lord Pond Plaza kept showing up,” she said. “Across the state, flooding is the greatest climate hazard facing our buildings and our transportation infrastructure, and heat islands are our greatest risk to human health. We have a project here that is using and restoring nature to reduce flood risk, to reduce heat risk; that is exactly the kind of resilience investment we want to be making so communities can protect their people and their infrastructure and avoid losses and damages.”
Other speakers included Select Board Chair Bill Chiasson and David Small, president of the Athol Bird and Nature Club and a member of several local committees.
“This is a really exciting day for us all,” said Small. “Those of us of a certain actually recall when there actually was a pond here. It wasn’t a very pretty pond, but wildlife liked it.”
Following the ribbon cutting, Antos and here team were joined by representatives from the Massachusetts Ecosystem Climate Adaptation Network (MassECAN) and others for a tour of the brook, greenspace, and reengineered traffic patterns.
“It’s so important that our communities can learn from each other about how we’re handling resilience,” Antos said. “This project is simultaneously using nature to reduce flood risk and also reduce heat risk. Across the state, we see communities trying to address flooding. So, coming together to see how the community and the state worked together for years to get it done is really important so that we’re not reinventing the wheel.”