Editor’s note: This commentary is by Melinda Moulton, of Huntington, who is the CEO of Main Street Landing in Burlington.
As someone who has been visioning the fine city of Burlington for most of my adult life, I am especially focused on what might transpire in The Big Hole in the middle of Burlington. I am not going to get into the details of the wheeling and dealing around this massive parcel of open land. Let us leave it simply as “a debacle.” Partnerships have been forged, forgotten, and rebuffed over the past six years since the Burlington Square Mall, Macy’s and the parking garage were demolished. There has been so much drama around this project known as CityPlace with threats of lawsuits, eminent domain, and costly languishing that citizens are growing weary.
The property is privately owned with two development firms involved: Devonwood Investors and Brookfield headed up by Don Sinex. The city holds a royal flush to make the numbers work by providing tax increment financing, and they must also approve the revised designs and uses. The City Council has leaders who want accountability from the mayor and the developer. There exists, rightfully so, a lack of patience, tolerance, and trust around the project’s direction. The City Council is demanding that the project meet the vision of the citizenry. The city and the developer need to forge a new agreement, and many believe there may not be enough civility left between the two parties to move this project forward.
In my mind’s eye I have seen this expansive piece of property redeveloped in a variety of ways: a public/private project with lots of public access, parks, streets, vendors, first floor retail with restaurants, lots of local music, public art, fountains, green space, open air markets, affordable housing, and some mixed use office and retail. “Dream on,” I tell myself.
I posed this question to my social media friends: “What do you want to see fill the Big Hole in the center of Burlington?” I was super delighted to hear from over 80 people who want to be engaged and participate in the visioning of this important piece of real estate.
A few folks suggested that we seize everything by eminent domain and have local developers come together to create a collaborative and local vision spearheaded by the citizenry. Many want to see restoration of the old street grid. Others do not want to see one big, massive development. Several folks expressed disdain for high-end luxury apartments and want to see “truly” affordable housing. My post received lots of likes for an open-air market — a la Montreal — with outdoor space to expand during the summer. The idea of an interactive digital media arts and educational space was proposed.
A common theme was the human desire for lots of green space. Yet, on the side of high density development, I was directed to a YouTube video “City of the Future: Singapore,” making the case that we need to look far into the future with whatever we build. A handful of folks want to see parking restored, and they want to have two-hour free parking reinstated. The city gave up on two-hour free parking as a concession to the developer. One individual suggested we create a convention/concert facility, and another suggested Faneuil Hall as her vision. The idea of affordable artist studios which would be an economy booster was proposed. Other thoughts included: communal food gardens, public bathrooms, wild nature reserve, four-story geodesic dome to grow food, affordable hotel, music venue, and a return to what was there before everything was demolished. One woman suggested we create a Diversity & Cultural Heritage Center which would accurately represent and celebrate the diversity of race, culture, and history of Vermont. It became clear that our community is hungry for spaces that encourage entrepreneurism.
Focusing on the next steps forward, a few of us entertained the idea of hosting a Zoom to hold a community-wide charrette. Several folks suggested we expand on the city’s Legacy Project which, in the year 2000, envisioned the city of Burlington as wholly sustainable by 2020. Some requested that the leaders of the Legacy Project — Mayor Peter Clavelle, CEDO Director Mike Monte, and Assistant Director Bruce Seifer — be called upon to lead this effort like they did in 2000.
So here we are living in this moment when a huge open piece of valuable real estate in the center of Burlington cries out to meet the needs of the citizenry. Now is the ripe opportunity for the leadership of the city to engage the public in visioning for this property. We have one chance to do this right, let’s not blow it.
