GREENFIELD — Town officials want to make the heart of downtown more pedestrian friendly by using a state grant to design a plaza connecting the Town Common and Town Hall.
Details about the grant will be announced Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in front of the Town Hall by state Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jay Ash and Undersecretary Chrystal Kornegay.
“The town of Greenfield would use this grant to fund schematic designs for closing off Court Square in front of Town Hall to create a pedestrian plaza,” according to a statement issued by the Mayor’s office Tuesday. Once the road is closed, “the Town Common could be expanded,” it said.
Following the announcement, Ash and Kornegay will tour the downtown area and visit local businesses.
According to Greenfield’s 2003 Downtown Master Plan, where the project was first proposed, creating such a plaza would “strengthen the heart of downtown.”
“This initiative is a cornerstone of the plan and will create a very visible space for hosting downtown events and activities,” the plan states. “An expanded program of activities would be developed for this space that currently hosts a weekend farmers’ market.”
More recently, the downtown plan was supported by the 2014 Greenfield Sustainable Master Plan.
Such a project, if it moves forward, will more easily connect downtown businesses to the transit center, improve pedestrian safety, increase the amount of trees in the downtown area and create a more focused town center, according to the state.
“Strong downtown communities attract new residents and increase capacity to support restaurants, small businesses and local employers,” said Gov. Charlie Baker in a recent statehouse statement announcing $210,000 in Downtown Initiative Grants to 14 communities, including Greenfield, across the state.
The proposed plaza project follows “recent advancements in the redevelopment of the First National Bank building, the new downtown parking garage, and upcoming renovation of 56 Bank Row,” known as the Abercrombie Building, the Mayor’s statement said.
The quasi-public Greenfield Redevelopment Authority intends to find funding sources to complete redevelopment of the First National Bank, which has been vacant for decades.
Last month, the Planning Board OK’d preliminary designs of a five-level, 352-space parking garage on Olive Street, which planners see as a benefit not only to the new courthouse nearby but to the merchants and cultural venues on Main Street.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo