Greenfield Mayor William Martin is proof that perseverance can pay off, as shown by the recent announcement of $7.5 million for a parking garage on Olive Street.
Greenfield officials had been told “no” several times after applying for state money to help to build a garage downtown. It didn’t seem to matter whether this garage was seen as an important piece in the continued economic revitalization of downtown or the only realistic answer for parking once the enlarged and revamped Franklin County Courthouse reopens in coming months.
Four times the town had applied for grants, and four times Greenfield came up empty when the state announced its awards. That’s the kind of track record that had residents, and The Recorder editorial board, questioning what “Plan B” was for a long-term solution to downtown and courthouse parking. The message just seemed to be that state money for the construction of a garage wasn’t in the cards.
If Martin ever had any misgivings about whether it was time for a workable alternative, he didn’t show it. Sure, there was frustration. The fourth time Greenfield’s application was rejected, an obviously unhappy mayor said, “It appears it’s a doomed project. The state has shown that it doesn’t want to participate.”
At the same time, Martin knew that there had to be a way. And he knew there were other people in town and elsewhere who understood that a parking garage wasn’t going to be a luxury but rather a necessity when it came to courthouse and downtown parking as well as for train and bus passengers at the John W. Olver Transit Center. Thankfully, those recognizing the need here included the area’s legislative delegation.
It was state Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, and 2nd Franklin District Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, who were at the table when Greenfield officials and state officials, including Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash, met in Boston to find answers and to get everyone on the same page.
“The town officials took the lessons from the secretary, took them back here, and I made sure that the conference call happened as the town was doing their application process — they were on the phone with the secretary’s agency, going over it line by line to make sure there were no mistakes,” Mark said during the ceremony under a tent where the garage will be built.
But who knows whether that meeting and those telephone calls would have ever happened if Mark and Rosenberg weren’t around to use their influence.
Along with perseverance, it took teamwork.
“This was a project that people stuck with and continued to work on,” Gov. Charlie Baker said to a crowd of local and state leaders, residents and business owners. “This is exactly the sort of thing that the MassWorks program is supposed to be supporting.”
The four-story, 350-space garage is expected to take about two years to complete, and construction could begin by early 2017. Greenfield is going to have to use the temporary parking plan that the town has as it waits for the garage to be built. But knowing that the town has a more permanent plan in place should help ease some of the stress during this time.
And with whatever plaque is attached to the garage thanking all who made it possible, over the entrance it should read, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”