News
Proctor Plan Envisions Transformed Downtown
Brent CurtisPROCTOR — The downtown of tomorrow in Proctor could look a lot like it does now, but with economic engines in a number of key places.
In the pages of a prosperity plan set for a final review by the Select Board next week are plans to bring everything from light industry to a college campus to town while leaving the timeless serenity of the historic downtown undisturbed, consultants with Bread Loaf Corp. told members of a town advisory committee Tuesday.
“Proctor is a residential community that retains the feel of a company town,” said Todd Nebraska, manager of client services for the Middlebury architectural firm. “We’ve tried to build around that principle.”
After a year of inventorying the buildings and spaces downtown and listening to input from residents and town officials, the consultants delivered a final plan Tuesday. It blends industrial development in the former Vermont Marble building with commercial spaces on Main Street, and tourism and recreational attractions tie everything together.
“Proctor has a really compact center with most residents in town living a quarter-mile away from the center,” Nebraska said. “It makes Proctor a truly walkable community.”
Or bike-able.
The prosperity plan calls for a bike path, already in the works, to run along Main Street and a footpath to run from the northern end of the Proctor Free Library parking lot to Sutherland Falls — which the consultants said is the tallest waterfall in the state.
“For people coming from outside of Vermont, this is kind of a big deal,” Nebraska said.
For people living in the town, proposals to add services and amenities — such as a bank, convenience store and gas station, restaurants and a farmers market — would give people a greater chance to shop locally.
The plan also calls for extensive redevelopment of the former marble mill, which would need about $800,000 worth of capital improvements to remove asbestos, install sprinkler systems and pay for other deferred maintenance before the entire space could be used.
But with hundreds of thousands of dollars potentially available from state and federal grant programs to help pay for those improvements, the consultants said, the town would have tens of thousands of square feet for business and office incubators.
The Vermont Marble mill building would serve as a primary economic anchor for the town, with the College of St. Joseph planning to open a campus at 61 Main St. for its physician’s assistant and radiology technician programs providing another economic fundamental — customers.
The plan envisions the construction of two buildings on an empty lot at 60 Main St. in front of the mill building. The architects said the first floors of the two buildings could be used for commercial or retail uses while the second and possibly third floors could be used for student housing.
“If there are students here, where are they going to live? With the college coming into town there’s a real opportunity here,” Nebraska said, adding that the town should begin looking for a developer interested in building on the site.
The plan also considers the future of the town’s fire station, which in the plan would move into a new building on the back side of 60 Main St. close to the mill, and the transfer of the municipal offices from its current location to the back of 39 Main St. — a building the town would share with the college.
In the fire station’s current location, the architects foresee an opportunity for a commercial, retail or restaurant space while the town office could serve as a visitor center.
To give people even more incentive to come downtown, the architects said the town should plan block parties and concerts on the town green.
The advisory committee, made up of members of the town’s Select Board and Planning Commission along with regional business planners, economic planners and local business leaders didn’t make any formal recommendation about the prosperity plan Tuesday.
But Select Board Chairman Bill Champine, a member of the advisory committee, said he liked what he saw.
“They came up with a lot of things the town needs,” he said. “Now, it’s just a matter of getting the community involved to move things forward.”
-
Bread Loaf Workers Build Skills by Constructing a Shed at the Putnam Block
By Luke Nathan, Bennington BannerBENNINGTON — Once a week since September, some construction workers at the Putnam Block site have opted not to go home at the ostensible end of the workday. Instead, they’ve attended training sessions offered by their employer, Bread...
-
Gov. Scott Helps Break Ground for Early Childhood Center
By Banner staffBENNINGTON — Gov. Phil Scott, local dignitaries and representatives of Vermont’s congressional delegation broke ground Wednesday for an early childhood center that will provide much needed daycare for infants, toddlers and preschool children. The center, to be constructed...
-
Union Bank Open House Celebration and Ribbon Cutting
Union Bank, held a grand opening/ribbon cutting celebration on Saturday, August 17th for its newest full service branch located at 31 Market Street, Finney Crossing in Williston. The newly constructed branch (constructed by Bread Loaf Corporation) location features...
-
Committee Presents Plan for New Newport Recreation Center
By Patrick O’Grady, Valley News CorrespondentNewport — A presentation of preliminary plans for a new recreation center in Newport left supporters of the project feeling like a million bucks. At the end of the presentation on Wednesday night, Town Manager Hunter Rieseberg announced the...
-
New Digs for Stowe
By Caleigh Cross, Stowe ReporterStowe Electric Department finally has a home of its own, after decades of bouncing between landlords all around town. The utility’s employees settled into their new offices on Moscow Road this week. Construction of the new $2 million...
-
Department of Libraries Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Barre, Vermont—The Vermont Department of Libraries held a ribbon cutting at the ABLE Library on Friday, October 19, 2018 for their new office space. The project, a renovation of the former Spaulding School (which also houses the Vermont History...
-
Long Trail begins Construction on Field House
Adam Aucoin, Bennington BannerDORSET—Long Trail School took a major step Tuesday in heightening the profile of its athletic programs, starting construction of the school’s new field house scheduled to open in the fall of 2019. The field house will be...
-
Town of Middlebury Wins the Vermont’s Greenest Building Award for 2017
On Thursday, May 17, 2018 the Town of Middlebury was awarded the Greenest Building award for 2017 for the Middlebury Town Office Building from the Vermont Green Building Network (VGBN) during a ceremony at the Town Offices. The award ceremony coincided...
More Articles