Pittsfield Forum Looks To Link West St. With Downtown| 03:15PM / Tuesday, March 13, 2012 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Creating a short- and long-term vision designed to link downtown with the West Street corridor and the Housatonic River will be the focus of an all-day panel discussion on Thursday, March 29, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The meeting will be hosted by the Urban Land Institute's Boston program which chose Pittsfield as a recipient of its Technical Assistance Panel program. In addition to the professionals assembled by TAP, the meeting will also be attended by city officials, the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Pittsfield Inc, and business and property owners in the study area.
The initial findings of the panel will be presented publicly at 5 p.m.
Schedule
8:30 Panel convenes
9:00 Site tour
10:30 Stakeholder interviews (closed to press)
12:30 Working lunch
1:00 Planning charrette (closed to press)
5:00 Public presentation of findings |
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Pittsfield was chosen for the TAP program based on its application that identified connectivity and design issues linking downtown, the Housatonic River and residential neighborhoods directly west of downtown. The study area stretches from the former KB Toys building to the railroad overpass on West Street, while also including properties on Center Street, Church Street and South Church Street (the study area includes, but is not limited to: Big Y, The Berkshire Eagle and the Clocktower Condominiums).
In the process, the panel will evaluate how the mix of commercial and residential uses, six lanes of traffic and large parking areas can be made more pedestrian friendly and linked more closely with the downtown through streetscape and other opportunities.
Panelists are Ted Carman, Concord Square Planning & Development; Matthew Chase, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin; Victor Karen, ULI TAP co-chairman; John R. Mullin, University of Massachusetts; Beth Murphy, MassDevelopment liaison; Jef Fasser, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin; Jay Paget, Massachusetts Cultural Council; David Traggorth, Mitchell Properties; and George T. Tremblay, AIA, Arrowstreet.
More information can be obtained by Pittsfield City Planner C.J. Hoss at 413-499-9366.
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