PLAINFIELD — Whether it’s for a meal, gathering after a Memorial Day service, a concert or town meetings, village greens have long served as a magnet for community life in New England towns.

Except in Plainfield right now, this backdrop for the town’s community life is hindered by infrastructure deficiencies and a lack of accessibility that make the village green tough to use.

In response, an ambitious concept with an equally ambitious price tag is being put forward as a possible solution to rejuvenate the largest gathering spaces located in the heart of town.

Peter Lapointe, chair of the Planning Board, explained the concept last week to 14 of the town’s 600 residents during a meeting at Town Hall. While bracing those in attendance for the “sticker shock” and “magnitude”  of the estimated $1.1 million project, Lapointe noted that the extensive work would help the town create a vibrant village center.

Still-evolving plans would increase access and recapture the traditional “symbiotic” relationship Town Hall and the Congregational Church — the two buildings that together form the heart of the village green, while at the same time adding parking and addressing septic and drainage shortcomings.

Participants were generally supportive of the proposed project, prepared by Bucky Sparkle of Zengineer.

“What we have now is a placeholder,” Lapointe said at the Feb. 26 meeting.

“There is no funding to go further. Five years is the earliest it could possibly happen,” he said, assuring residents that any steps forward would only be possible through a series of town votes.

Gathering space

The push is driven by a desire for buildings to be fully revived toward their original purpose at the center of town life. While venues such as the library and town offices can accommodate public gatherings, neither are as big as the Town Hall and the church.  The two are separated by Union Street, which runs between the two buildings.

To make the space more accommodating for social activity, plans call for the closure of Union Street, with the area it takes up being converted to a 43-space parking lot — thus expanding parking for both the church and town hall while cutting down on the somewhat cumbersome walk from the current parking to the two buildings.

Behind the new parking area would be a gravel overflow parking lot around Fire Pond, according to the plans.

Residents David Kramer and Leah Bernstein asked whether the interior of Town Hall, where town meetings are held and many community events take place, would be remodeled.

Lapointe responded that, “the utilization of the Town Hall is under exploration, so I think it’s a good possibility that we can do it, and we think that the first step is by bringing people in the front door.”

He meant that literally. Currently the only entrance used at the Town Hall is the back door, which opens to a public use kitchen, and neither front nor back entrance complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Handicapped accessibility, therefore, has been written into the concept for Town Hall’s front door.

“Lo and behold, the front door will be the door everybody goes through,” said Lapointe.

“Other than inside the building, there is not much public open space, gathering space, that is available. There’s a lawn but it’s a fairly steep slope,” said Sparkle, who laid out a possible solution by create a new green space by leveling off the property in front of the buildings.

Infrastructure

Fire Pond, behind the church, is critical to the town’s emergency services, since the pond feeds the town’s fire hydrant. Sparkle said part of the project would be to increase water capacity in the pond — a move supported by the Fire Chief Rob Shearer, according to Sparkle.

Around the pond will be the overflow gravel parking lot that will also allow emergency services to more easily access the pond for maintenance.

Currently the septic tank under the area does not comply with state regulations and would be brought up to specifications and buried between the church and Town Hall.

Part of the project would also include “taking care of the sins of the past ” with regard to poor stormwater management. According to Sparkle, there is currently “no stormwater management,” with all sediment and pollution washing into the Mill Brook and the Westfield River.

A box culvert on the site was also said to be in “horrible” condition, Sparkle said, adding that the “venerable old” stones it is made of would ideally be repurposed for another project.

Funding

Lapointe and other town officials have been in contact with the state seeking avenues to pursue grant funding for the project. “We have opportunities to explore,” he said.

The current cost of $1.1 million is derived using Massachusetts Department of Transportation prices for construction materials, which he explained are typically inflated. Sparkle said that in his most recent project in another community, the project had been pegged at $975,000, but was completed for $600,000.

Sparkle noted that the Plainfield project is predominantly “infrastructure on top of infrastructure, or dovetailing with it,” which he said requires comprehensive planning. He mentioned the idea of public access to spring water, and suggested tapping an aquifer.

“So can we do the well as a stand-alone project? Absolutely,” he said. “But you don’t want to do the well without knowing where your septic system is going to be, or without knowing where your drainage is going to be. So design has to be performed.”

Financing the overall project will be a challenge, with resident Kimberly Longey noting that, “As a town, we’re strapped for cash.” She added that while the town pours most of its funds into public safety, and the project might not seem as pressing as purchasing a new fire truck like the town just did, she still sees “clear benefits.”

“We have a really serious problem of attracting and retaining community participants on all the boards and committees that run this town and that use this space,” she said. “If you actually have a functional space to do your work … it’s a subtle way to attract more participation.

“As someone who struggles to park in this space and get into this building, and who has participated in almost every public meeting and all the social things that happen in this building, I think it would vastly improve the experience and expand the use of the building.”

Resident Bob Mellstrom, a mechanical engineer of 45 years, supports the project “with reservations,” noting that he disagrees with some of the details in the plan.

Resident Bonnie-Beth Pierce’s solution to raise some money? “Maybe we can get Taylor Swift to come in,” she said, a comment that was met with laughing approval as the meeting ended.

The study by Zengineer, which is four pages long and has been uploaded to the town’s website, cost the town $12,500 in ARPA funds.

The project, said Lapointe, “came as a response to parking concerns raised by the Planning Board when hosting public meetings,” and was first seriously considered in town meetings starting in 2019.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.