The $14.5 million road reconstruction project for downtown will resume next month.
The status of construction in downtown Westfield, by the Commons, is seen last month. The statue, at right, is of Maj. Gen. William Shepard.WESTFIELD – Westfield on Weekends and the Business Improvement District are optimistic and conservative in planning community activities in the downtown this year.
Both organizations are now planning activities that will occur downtown through the summer but because the availability of Park Square Green is unknown most will be held just outside the immediate downtown area.
Weather permitting, J.F. Lynch and Sons Construction Co. is scheduled to begin its final phases of the city’s $14.5 million reconstruction of Main and Broad streets and the green on or about March 1.
The Millbury contractor started work on the project in April, 2010, and is now nearing completion of final sections on Main Street, the green, main entrance to Westfield Athenaeum and a final layer of asphalt pavement throughout the area. City Engineer Mark S. Cressotti said completion date for the project is June 30.
“Summer is the prelude to an entire celebration of the sparkling new revitalized downtown from the Great River Bridge to the green,” said WOW president Robert A. Plasse. “But, the green may not be ready for use this season,” he said.
BID director Lisa G. McMahon explained planning for community events will not include the green in an effort to give the lawn areas of Park Square time to mature.
“We are planning our Farmers Market again at the Goodwill parking lot on Franklin Street and our summer concert series for the Church Street Commons area again,” she said.
But, McMahon said if the green becomes available later in the season or in the fall, events can be relocated. “That is the planning we are prepared to do,” she said.
Plasse said a key event drawing attention to the downtown will be the second annual Kentucky Derby Pub and Restaurant tour in early May that is being timed to coincide with the running of the famous horse race.
Other work at Park Square that remains is construction, by students at Westfield Vocational-Technical High School, of a pavilion. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said this week that work is expected to begin shortly but will recess briefly during summer school vacation with completion expected in the fall.