The muddy parking lot outside the office for the Tri-County Fairgrounds was packed Wednesday night. As cars circled, a steady stream of people walked down Fair Street to see the new vision consultants had for the fairgrounds.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette had predicted on Monday that the presentation would draw a crowd, but it was held in a tiny room which was filled beyond capacity. People stood listening in the hall, some straining for a glimpse of the screen. Some drove away frustrated, and a few stragglers took one look at the packed hallway and fled.
Though the Tennessee consultant had solicited public input during a previous visit, little in his plan seemed to reflect local priorities or character. If Northampton hoped to compete as a venue for world-class equestrian competition, he explained, green space at the fairgrounds would need to be paved over for parking. He emphasized the tax revenue a revitalized fairgrounds—now with year-round conference center—would bring in, as a business and from increased occupancy in the city's hotels.
The flood of new horse-loving traffic the refurbished fairgrounds may generate were central to the city's decision to plop down a hotel abutting the city's only downtown park. Earlier this month, the developers announced they would break ground in the fall for their 101-room Hilton Garden Inn. This week, three possible redesigns were presented for Pulaski Park, the result of a public request for proposals to transform the public space into the entrance for this new franchise.
The submissions are imaginative and offer substantial variations to the design proposed last fall by the Board of Public Works. The designers of the plans will present them in a public forum on Wednesday, September 17 at Kennedy Middle School.
Whatever creativity the park and fairground redesigns represent, they share the same problem the city's plan for the Hilton did. Public input is being sought long after the business decisions have already been made. Without a seriously contested mayoral race for the better part of a decade, when it comes to discussing priorities, Northampton's public doesn't so much get to decide where they're going as the color of the vehicle that's getting them there.
Earlier this summer, the Northampton planning board rejected an offer from the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture to conduct a public forum on planning issues facing the city. The forum, known as a charrette, solicits community input in defining a vision for future development in the city. Intended for educational purposes only, it was to be conducted by a nationally recognized authority on urban design, Phillip Bess, and students from his graduate team.
"A key point of disagreement was over the geographical scope of the work that the studio should undertake," Bess explained in a letter to the Paradise City Forum. City planner Wayne Feiden and the Planning Board wanted to restrict which sections of the city the urban design students could consider. At one point, Feiden suggested Bess and his students only look at Florence and Leeds, rather than focusing on the fairgrounds, the hotel, the park, or elsewhere in and around downtown.
Starting on September 7, Bess and his students will conduct a week-long urban design charrette on Main Street in the new A.P.E. Gallery. Rather than the city playing host, a newly-formed citizens' group has stepped up to invite Bess and his team. There will be no restrictions on the urban design team's scope, which will be determined largely by public input.
Instead of sitting in the bleachers getting to watch officials decide the fate of our city, the Northampton public will take the field for the first time since the Higgins administration took office. Even if it's just an exhibition game, the opportunity for Northampton taxpayers to take on issues other than mere cosmetics borders on revolutionary.
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If you are interested in supporting the charrette, please consider making a tax-deductible financial contribution. Checks should be made out to A.P.E. Ltd., and sent to 126 Main St., Northampton, MA., 01060. Please write "Notre Dame Design" on the memo line of your check. Learn more at northamptondesignforum.blogspot.com
