NORTHAMPTON — This summer the city saw more greenery downtown in the form of an upgraded Pulaski Park, and now even more may be on the way as online contributors rally around a crowdfunding campaign to construct a downtown “parklet.”
Planning and Sustainability Director Wayne Feiden created the crowdfunding page, which is already halfway toward reaching its $10,000 goal — half of the $20,000 needed to close Crackerbarrel Alley and turn it into a small park.
“All day long my email’s been beeping,” Feiden said Tuesday of the notifications he receives when someone contributes.
MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development and finance agency, is kicking in a matching grant for the project, Feiden said, which means it would contribute a maximum of $10,000 if the campaign reaches its target by Nov. 4.
If the idea comes to fruition, the downtown alley that connects Main Street with the Masonic Street parking lot would get an overhaul — tables, chairs, benches and plants. Considering the many coffee shops in the vicinity, Feiden said, it could serve as a nice alcove for the community to enjoy downtown delights.
A Smith College landscape studies class is helping Feiden brainstorm the space’s possibilities. He said if the money is raised, designs will be drafted over the winter and it could be built next spring.
The idea came after three traffic studies in recent years found the thruway unsafe just as the city’s open space program was calling for less pavement downtown.
“We’ve been talking about it for a while,” said Feiden. “The safety part is what originally got our attention.”
As for the online funding component, Feiden said it’s a great way to involve the community early in a project. That way, he said, it’s easier to develop something everyone can get behind.
“We’re really trying to change the paradigm,” he said.
While numbers on the page keep climbing, not everyone’s happy about the idea.
Packards bar owner Bob McGovern told the Gazette it will burden traffic in front of his business at 14 Masonic St. and become a haunt for derelicts.
“Overall it would create a traffic problem and it’s not exactly an attractive place to put a park,” said McGovern, adding that he’s never observed any safety issues in the alley. “I tend to think it might be a hangout for the late-night drug crew you see around town.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.