NORTHAMPTON — A portion of Main Street sidewalk in front of Florence Bank and the former Spoleto Restaurant has reopened more than nine months after the city closed the area following reports that consultants found it posed “an immediate risk of collapse.”
In a joint effort between the city and Eric Suher, who owns the buildings next to the sidewalk at 56-58 Main St., shoring was installed in the affected area, allowing for the removal of barriers to the sidewalk, according to Planning & Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch.
“Because sidewalks are porous, water infiltrates and there’s been years of water infiltration [in that section of] the sidewalk. It was essentially crumbling underneath because there’s nothing to support it but open space,” Misch explained. “We worked with Eric Suher to put temporary shoring up so that the city could take the barrels off the surface of the sidewalk, and then his tenants would not have their entryway blocked by the barrels.”
Consultants from the the engineering firm VHB last June examined the conditions of the sidewalks in preparation for the upcoming Picture Main Street downtown redesign. They examined the empty space between the sidewalk and the ground, also known as “vaults,” which are privately-owned extensions of nearby building foundations.
In an interview Tuesday morning, Misch explained that while the city is working with property owners to repair roughly 20 separate vaults across the city, this particular stretch owned by Suher was in particularly poor condition.
Explaining that the city had been working with Suher for months to address the failing stretch of sidewalk, Misch said that the Department of Transportation (MassDOT) requires that the city undergo the repairs prior to beginning work on Picture Main Street.
“Essentially, we worked with [Suher] to put the shoring up underneath the sidewalk, because the fact that he wasn’t taking care of his space meant that it would have a negative impact on the sidewalk,” Misch said. “MassDOT required the city to do further investigation of these vaults, because we needed to incorporate any modifications for the contractor who would come and build … It turns out all of these voids or vaults are structured such that the sidewalk is the roof of the vault. So when the contractor goes and pulls the sidewalk up to replace it, the contractor would be looking down into a vault.”
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, in an interview Tuesday, expressed appreciation for the project’s completion, mentioning that she was glad the safety issue was detected during the Picture Main Street project’s planning phase.
“I am definitely pleased that the structural repairs to the vault that’s beneath the Florence Bank property have finally been completed — not just completed, but then professionally certified as safe — at the property owners expense,” Sciarra said. “City staff identified this unsafe condition last year, and we have worked persistently to ensure that it was addressed in the interest of public safety and our ability to keep moving forward with the Main Street project … I wish it had not taken so long to resolve a known safety issue, but I am glad that it is now safe, has been addressed by the property owner and is back open.”
Attempts to reach Suher by phone for comment on Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful.
