L/rain
65°
L/rain
Hi 64° | Lo 48°

Main Street Redesign

What will Concord's new Main Street look like? Team releases first designs

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy

    Courtesy

  • Courtesy
  • Courtesy
  • Courtesy
  • Courtesy
  • Courtesy
  • Courtesy
  • Courtesy

By LAURA McCRYSTAL

Monitor staff

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Concord’s Main Street could have wide sidewalks, outdoor seating areas, landscaping and public art, according to images from the team working on the $7.85 million streetscape project.

Design proposals include relocating the clock tower from Eagle Square to the sidewalk in front of the Works Bakery Cafe and closing Phenix Avenue to create a pocket park with fountains. The images also show public art and a Concord Coach in a temperature-controlled, glass kiosk on the sidewalk.

The designs are preliminary and plans could change, members of the consultant team said at a meeting this week. The city received a $4.71 million federal grant last year to redesign 12 blocks of Main Street. Its design team includes landscape architecture firm Carol R. Johnson Associates and engineering firm McFarland Johnson.

A forum for public input about the project will be held Feb. 4 at the Grappone Conference Center. The Concord City Council will hold a public hearing about the designs on Feb. 11. Meetings and hearings are also scheduled for March, April and May, with construction scheduled to begin in September.

(Laura McCrystal can be reached at 369-3312 or lmccrystal@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @lmccrystal.)

TaxiManSteve wrote:
23/01/2013

Why bother? If people want beauty, tell them to go to Vermont. If you want commerce, New Hampshire. ---SWL
Ducklady wrote:
19/01/2013

I like downtown Concord, but I have to drive there because I don't live there. My first thought looking at this picture was "They won't be satisfied until they make it impossible to drive down Main Street." Instead of spending all this money installing obstacles to driving and removing parking spaces it would be so much better to use it to rehab all those second stories now vacant. If you want people to be downtown, make it possible for them to live and work downtown. That's why downtowns existed originally. This picture looks like someone's fantasy of a "walkable" city, except you have to drive to get there. What a colossal waste of money. It really makes me sick that anyone would consider spending money this way when people are homeless, out of work, etc.
Devil_Doc wrote:
18/01/2013

"Change, even for the better, is inconvenient". Samuel Johnson
auntv wrote:
18/01/2013

Doesn't look practical for snow plowing, especially if the center median is anything but flush with the rest of the pavement. Catch just one of those cobblestones or bricks with the plow and they will be everywhere.
earthling wrote:
18/01/2013

The design looks really nice, but I think I'd rather see the city send back the "$4.71 million federal grant" to the Treasury, along with a note "for deficit reduction".

RabbitNH wrote:
18/01/2013

The design of Main St in my opinion is not the problemo. Here are the problems. Parking High rents on Main Street. Folks open up a business there and eventually that business moves to another location. Business that is focused on small inventories and high prices. There is a reason folks do their shopping on Loudon Road. The idea that Concord NH has the income support of towns like Portsmouth or Concord MA has been proven to be wrong over and over. Look at the businesses that have succeeded on Main Street and the ones that have failed. When I first moved here I loved the fact that I would go into a business on Main Street and it was not crowded and I got superior service. After 23 years living here I realize after seeing many of them leave that Concord does not have the income level to support boutique shops.

John_Jordan wrote:
18/01/2013

That's a lot more sidewalk to roll up at 8pm!
subscriber wrote:
18/01/2013

"POCKET PARK" ! ? ! Don't you mean 'party park' with vandalized fountains, cigarette butts and styrofoam cups?

mumofnikki wrote:
18/01/2013

out door seating? You have to fight the homeless now for any seats. and get rid of the beggers. I can't walk down the street without someone begging for money
gdn1 wrote:
18/01/2013

Oh, how quaint.
Dick_Pender wrote:
17/01/2013

Sure is funny that none of the renditions show very many PEOPLE!! I wonder if that is beacuase they are all at the malls? What a sham!! Give the money back to Obama...We will end up paying for this boondoggles for years to come...
Dick_Pender wrote:
17/01/2013

This a total waste of hard earned taxpayer money. This is a joke. Who are these people that really think this will work. this is such a blackhole. stop this spending. if it isn't a ghost town now, it surely will be , Oh, does that mean we won't need that nice brand new Jeep SUV for the Meter Maids anymore if they spend all this money on a downtown that no one goes to.. Stop the insanity, maybe all of our local elected public officals need a "Backround Check" We should not waste a dime on this downtown game of smoke and mirrors,,, This will cost much more than 7 Million!! Please we the taxpayers are not as dumb as they think we are.. Hold on to your wallet
Jim_Breagy wrote:
18/01/2013

My first suggestive article wasn't published and I know why. It was difficult saying "NO" to the $7.85 mil proposal in a civil tone. Many thanks to Dick Pender who took many of thoughts and did it the right way.
RabbitNH wrote:
17/01/2013

Looks to me like we are going to be minus a few parking spots. How many parking spaces on Phenix ave now? They will be gone.
JFW wrote:
18/01/2013

No public parking on Phenix Avenue now.
Climber wrote:
17/01/2013

I like the trees, if they stay small. Clarkienh's comment makes sense. Snow removal looks expensive and has much potential for damage to curbs and sidewalks. Then I look at the "UPS" truck parked in front of the pedestrian bump out at the crosswalk and wonder why we would want to block driver's vision when someone wants to cross the street.
Clarkienh wrote:
17/01/2013

Please be mindful of snowplow access and snow removal . This design does not look practical for Winter living in NH.
subscriber wrote:
18/01/2013

It was probably designed by a company from Arizona.

Post a Comment

You must be registered to comment on stories. Click here to register.