In Plymouth, a discussion about the possibility of a convention center in the area—the focus of See Plymouth and the Plymouth Foundation’s second, day-long public forum on June 28th. CSL, a firm that helps communities evaluate the feasibility of any event facility product, presented their findings during the morning session of the forum at the 1820 Court House.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more..
Bill Krueger, CSL’s Senior Vice President, says the charge was to look at a product within Plymouth County, but.. “… a lot of our focus had started to gravitate toward Plymouth, you’re looking for proximity of visitor amenities like restaurants and retail –walkable environment”
No site was recommended but CSL used a list of sites to demonstrate what is required for a successful convention center location, ranging from Cordage Park to Memorial Hall to Plimoth Patuxet. Adam Paulitsch, of Populous Architects, discussed the merits of various sites: “From the architectural standpoint, there would be nothing better than designing a facility in the heart of the Town of Plymouth. It’s rich, it’s unique, it’s authentic.”
But Paulitsch says, there are other options that allow…“…you to maybe do some things that you couldn’t do before in a downtown site: better access, parking…”
Plymouth Foundation’s Stephen Cole says the next step…”…is to work with the town and our funding partners at the legislature to create a site analysis. We’re going to release an RFI, a Request for Information, inviting property owners that meet certain criteria or metrics, to say to us that they are interested in participating at the site for this construction.”
See Plymouth received a legislative earmark–this sponsored by Rep. Matt Muratore and Senator Susan Moran for $150,000 for a feasibility study for a South Shore convention center. The Plymouth Foundation joined the effort.
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.
