December 10, 2007
By Robin Kaminski/The Dailey Item

A more aesthetically pleasing neighborhood, complete with fresh landscaping, new buildings and plenty of retail space is in the cards for the Washington Street Gateway area according to the Sasaki Associates.

At a public hearing Monday, Varoujan Y. Hagopian, principal for Sasaki, detailed the revitalization of the downtrodden area, which he said would complement the recently approved waterfront master plan the firm designed to redevelop 250 acres of prime real estate and retail space.

Over the past year, Hagopian said the group has worked in conjunction with city organizations and residents to redevelop the Washington Street Gateway area to create a mixed use and pedestrian friendly corridor.

While Hagopian said the waterfront plan could take up to 30 years to complete, the city could begin to see improvements from the Gateway project in as little as five years.

"I don't think people are comfortable walking alone right now downtown by themselves at night because the area is desolate and no one is around," he said. "So, we want to put new street lights and buildings there so that people want to come and visit with their families."

Sasaki associate Beni N. Arapi stressed that the purpose of the meeting was to garner input from residents to move forward with the plan that would ultimately act as a parallel connecting the waterfront development with the neighborhood.
"The area needs to be upgraded because it's sleepy now and there isn't a lot of curb appeal," he said. "We're not looking for little patches of new sidewalk for the plan, we would like a total revitalization."

In addition, Arapi said the group would like to make Washington Street to Broad Street one way, along with sequencing traffic lights to help alleviate traffic.

While local activist David Gass praised the proposed project and said it would dramatically improve the neighborhood, others said it was difficult to visualize the finished product.

So to help residents envision the plan, Hagopian said a simulated model of the project, complete with vehicles traveling up and down Washington Street and the Lynnway would be available for viewing at the next meeting in January.

"This is a loose concept, so we want input so that we can advance with the plan, restore existing buildings and restore a sense of neighborhood," he said. "For every little improvement that is made, it will trigger new improvements and snowball."

However, in order to make the improvements to entice developers into the area, Hagopian said a public/private partnership must be created.

"The public sector needs to make the improvements such as street lighting and landscaping and then the private sector will come in and reciprocate," he said. "If the public sector gets the right grants, the rest will come through."

Hagopian said talks are currently underway with North Shore Community College to fit the organization into the plan.