Barre, Vermont - January 24, 2012
If the city of Barre has its way, an empty lot on Main Street could become home to a brand new mixed-use office building.
"Since I moved here three years ago, all I've really heard is people talk about how they really, really want Barre to come back," said Dan Jones of the Barre Partnership.
Plans are in the works to make the City Place development the centerpiece of a revitalized downtown. Right now, the goal is to fill the building with the Vermont Department of Education at its core. It's a move that has the backing of Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vermont.
"You know you get 200, 300 people working on your Main Street every day; those people need a place to eat, they need a place to buy flowers for their wives on Valentine's Day, they need that new piece to repair their toilet," Jones said.
The new development would sit right across from Depot Square in the city's current sculpture garden. It's slated to be five stories tall with 100,000 square feet of office and retail space.
"You know it is a badly needed boost for the city of Barre, and Vermont's downtown, I think it represents smart growth," Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon said.
Lauzon says the private project will cost between $13 million and $15 million. His team is still hammering out details to make sure it will meet the needs of possible new tenants.
"What we are continuing to do in the city is we are working with the Department of Education to develop a program. In other words, how many people are going to be there? What are their space needs? And we are working hard to bring our conceptual plan more sharply into focus," Lauzon said.
A plan that, if executed correctly, downtown business owners like Dan Jones say could transform Barre for the better for years to come.
"I have guests coming to town and I want to be able to tell them walk right down to Main Street, you can have a wonderful meal, you can go into this store, you can buy whatever you want in this nice, wonderful atmosphere," Jones said.
An atmosphere that could be a reality in less than two years.
Lauzon says his team will spend the next few weeks finalizing details for the project before sharing them with the governor and pitching them to developers. If things go smoothly, the new building could be open by Oct. 2013.
Lauzon says the project is independent of future plans for displaced workers from the Waterbury complex. Currently, education department staffers are based in Berlin and Montpelier.
