Cleanup of brownfield sites progressing in Chicopee
Date: 12/26/2012
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — The Center Street lot where a discount gas station used to stand will be the next parcel to be transformed from "a brownfield to a bright field," according to Mayor Michael Bissonnette.
He made the announcement last week that the city has received a $100,000 grant from Region 1 of the Environmental Protection Agency to assess the property and plan the cleanup so the location could be redeveloped.
The mayor said the redevelopment of downtown, which includes brownfield remediation, is a "block by block enterprise."
The announcement was part of a larger discussion on the revitalization of downtown. Bissonnette said that brownfield has made private investment in Chicopee center and Chicopee Falls "almost impossible."
He reviewed the status of current redevelopment projects including the new senior center, which will be built on the site of the Facemate Corporation, a former brownfield. Bissonnette said that bids to build the new facility would be opened in next month, with a contractor selected in February 2013 and groundbreaking in March 2013.
The demolition of the Market Square Billiards building and turning the site into a parking area has been slowed with the discovery of toxic wastes from a former dry cleaning business and has been cleaned up. The project will proceed in the spring.
Bissonnette said Ames Privilege will be expanding the apartment complex as management is planning for 42 more units. The mayor admitted that he does not know what the current plans are for the Cabotville complex. The owner, real estate developer Joshua Guttman, had planned to rehabilitate the top floors of the building into condominiums. Bissonnette said the project is stalled because Guttman has not yet complied with necessary fire prevention measures such as sprinklers.
Carl Deitz, the city's director of Community Development, said that downtown sites that are receiving priority for redevelopment include Cabotville, the parking lot next to Bernardino's Bakery, the former Water Department building, the two former gas stations sites, the former Valley Opportunity Council/Rucki's building on Center Street and the former Masonic Lodge on Center Street.
Redevelopment of the downtown is detailed in a plan created this summer by The Cecil Group. Kenneth Buckland, a principal with the Cecil Group, said there is a "strong market" for the type of downtown neighborhood represented by the area.
With parcels of land along the Connecticut River that could be developed, Buckland said, "There are some exciting opportunities."
The site of the former Mobil Station would act as a gateway for the area and is suitable for retail.
Developing more restaurants would be important to the downtown area, Buckland noted.
Food makes a big difference in how people perceive downtowns," he said.
He added downtown Chicopee is "a classic New England urban center."
The potential of downtown can be seen in new businesses, Bissonnette said, such as Kava Press coffee house. He also noted the investment made by the Munich Haus restaurant in its new beer garden and said that since moving to its new location CVS has increased its sales by 40 percent.
He counted these as among the "signs of life" in downtown.
