Tag: CAC

The Northampton State Hospital Citizens Advisory Council or CAC was created in 1994 to oversee the redevelopment of the Northampton State Hospital campus.

Old Main fountain to rise again

From The Daily Hampshire Gazette
By Phoebe Mitchell
Saturday, August 25, 2012

The fountain that once graced the grounds of the Northampton State Hospital may soon be resurrected close to where it once stood next to the hospital’s main building as part of an effort to memorialize the historic institution.

According to Chairman David Drake, the Northampton Historical Commission has already endorsed the project, which is being spearheaded by a group set up by the Citizen Advisory Committee. The CAC was created in 1986 to provide a forum for citizen input on the redevelopment of the Northampton State Hospital property off Route 66.

Once located outside the building known as Old Main, the fountain is now in pieces and stored at the Department of Public Works, said Drake.

Joe Blumenthal, owner of Downtown Sounds on Pleasant Street, who heads the fountain project group, said Thursday members are putting together an application that will seek funds from the Community Preservation Committee to restore the fountain. He said the idea for the fountain project came from a group of people who had worked at the former state hospital.

Village Hill gathers steam

From The Republican
By Fred Contrada
Monday, November 21, 2011

After a period of stagnation, the ball appears to be rolling for housing development on Village Hill, reviving hopes for a new neighborhood.

Village Hill gathers steam, image by The Republican
Village Hill gathers steam, image by The Republican
Last week, city and state officials gathered at the former Northampton State Hospital campus for a ceremony marking the completion of 11 energy-efficient Craftsman and Victorian homes, all of which have been sold and are already occupied. The success of that phase has led to an agreement between Wright Builders and MassDevelopment, which owns the property, to build six additional single-family homes in a new section of Village Hill.

As recently as two years ago, the majority of the Craftsman and Victorian homes, which are at the top of the price range on Village Hill, were still awaiting buyers. Jonathan A. Wright, the president of Wright Builders, bought one of the homes himself. Over the past year, however, the homes, which cost as much as $700,000, have been in demand.

Patrick M. Goggins of Goggins Real Estate, the company that is marketing the homes, said the homes went fast once the dam broke on consumer confidence in the project. The relocation of Kollmorgen Electro-Optical to the south part of the property across Route 66 helped spark interest, he said.

CAC meeting March 23

From the Mayor’s Office:

The next meeting of the Northampton State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee falls on Wednesday March 23 from 5 – 7pm at JFK Middle School in the Community Room.

Agenda

1.Approval of past meeting minutes:
December 2, 2009

2.Residential project updates:
-Bungalows
-Wright Brothers

3.Other Business

CAC 2011 March 23 Agenda

No Review Required

From Northampton Media
By Mary Serreze
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

No Environmental Review Required for Revised State Hospital Development Plan

A revised development plan for the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital will require no environmental impact report, ruled Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles on April 9.

The new plan for the development called Village Hill “reflects current development opportunities and market conditions,” wrote Bowles in his decision.

The original master plan for the mixed-use project, approved in 1999 and revised in 2006, called for 207 housing units; the 2009 revision calls for 327 mixed-income units in a variety of housing types. While the original plan called for 476,000 square feet of commercial development, the new plan scales that back to 361,000.

An OK for plant Kollmorgen gets nod on Village Hill

From The Daily Hampshire Gazette
by Chad Cain
Friday, May 23, 2008

It looks like Kollmorgen Electro-Optical is here to stay.

In a unanimous vote Thursday night, the expansive committee in charge of overseeing the redevelopment of the former state hospital grounds approved a significant change to the Village Hill Northampton master plan. The move paves the way for the city’s largest manufacturer and its largest for-profit employer to move into a new manufacturing and office facility on the development’s south campus – thus keeping Kollmorgen in the city.

Development of the south campus was always a question we had,’ said committee member Joe Blumenthal. ‘The community is being presented with an opportunity here that we should take advantage of.’

Kollmorgen, which employs 330 people at its Northampton plant, would be the lone anchor tenant in the revamped south campus, where most of the commercial building is slated. In approving a MassDevelopment request to change the master plan, the Northampton State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee for Village Hill agreed to significantly reduce both the number of buildings and the amount of square footage slated for the south campus.

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Northampton board OKs Kollmorgen at Village Hill

From The Republican
by Fred Contrada
Thursday May 22, 2008

Amid reservations about the loss of office and retail space, the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Village Hill Northampton project voted unanimously today to amend the master plan, clearing the way for Kollmorgen Corp. to become the main commercial tenant.

Under a plan presented to the committee, Kollmorgen would occupy the lion’s share of the former Northampton State Hospital campus to the south of Route 66.

The site had been envisioned as a mix of commercial and industrial space that would complement the residential portion of the village on the north campus.

Kollmorgen, the city’s largest private employer, makes optical equipment, some of which is used by the military.

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Keeper of city’s past steps down, Kennedy resigns from four boards.

From Daily Hampshire Gazette
Saturday, April 19, 2008
By Dan Crowley

Christopher A. Kennedy has resigned as chairman of the Historical Commission and three other city panels he served on with an eye toward protecting the city’s history, including the Community Preservation Committee.

A champion of the city’s past, Kennedy said growing demands on his personal time coupled with his burgeoning consulting business prompted the mass resignations. He also is stepping down from the Elm Street Historical District Commission and Citizens Advisory Committee of the former Northampton State Hospital.

Three of Kennedy’s positions were mayoral appointments, and the Historical Commission last year named Kennedy its representative to the Community Preservation Committee.

“My time served in the various appointments has been rewarding, illuminating, and generally a very worthwhile experience for me, and I hope that I have been able to contribute in a meaningful way to Northampton’s present, and conversely its future, by appreciating its past,” he wrote in a recent letter of resignation to Mayor Clare Higgins.

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Mike Kirby: Back Row, Back Ward

From Community Radio Hour
Thursday, February 7, 2008
By Mary Serreze

Former City Councilor Mike Kirby is a political activist, a freelance investigative journalist, and author. His most recent book, “Back Row, Back Ward” examines the history of the efforts to redevelop Hospital Hill, former site of the Northampton Lunatic Asylum. He spins an arcane tale, involving public agencies, private developers, a string of mayors, and an Advisory Committee that caught the eye of the State Ethics Commission. It’s an alphabet soup: the State Division of Capital Planning and Operations (DCPO), The Community Builders (TCB), The Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC), Hospital Hill LLC, and the mysterious Northampton Development Corporation (NDC). He paints a picture of wishful thinking, back room dealing, pre-ordained conclusions, and disregard for historical values in the pursuit of profit.

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Halos and Horns

From The Valley Advocate

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Horns
Northampton voters passed the Community Preservation Act, permitting the state to tax them more so the revenue could go toward historic preservation, open space preservation, and community housing. While Jack Hornor’s a passionate affordable housing advocate, in his first year overseeing the committee, Northampton’s lost far more history than it’s preserved. Hornor justified the destruction of Northampton State Hospital’s historic Old Main building by saying that it was a public health hazard, and sooner or later someone might have gotten hurt. Seems to us old buildings have far more to fear from him than we do from the buildings.

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Northampton State Hospital