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Turntable Park On Stone Cutters Way
Background The City of Montpelier began an aggressive strategy to improve the economic vitality of its downtown and its riverfront areas in 1993. A major component was the redevelopment of the Winooski East rail yard, a particularly derelict and under-utilized area of Montpelier's downtown riverfront, into an active place to shop, eat, enjoy the riverfront, and appreciate the city's heritage. Between 1997-1999, the City constructed basic infrastructure along Stone Cutters Way to support the commercial redevelopment of the land and buildings with federal, state, and local funds. A Phase I environmental assessment was done at that time. During the design phase and through later stages, the public was clear about its expectation that public access to the river (visual or actual) must be provided. The land is owned by the State of Vermont, through the Agency of Transportation, Rail Division. The City executed a lease agreement encompassing the state-owned portions of the Stone Cutters Way project area (road, bike path, sidewalks). The remaining areas were made available for private sector redevelopment. Throughout the project, the City maintained its intent to create a public park, an area along Stone Cutters Way specifically reserved and designed for public use and enjoyment with the turntable as a centerpiece. The park development was delayed partly due to lack of design funds, but more due to the unexpected shift in the Washington County Railroad operator’s intentions for their future use of the Turntable. Consequently, the Turntable site was removed from the City’s lease area for Stone Cutters Way and remains under the jurisdiction of the Agency of Transportation.
The site is located along the north bank of the Winooski River and consists of approximately 0.27 acres of land, which was part of the historic and presently active railroad corridor for the Washington County Railroad. It is bounded by the Winooski River to the west, Stone Cutters Way and the Winooski East Bike Path to the east, the former Salt Shed to the southeast, and a new office building to the northwest. The adjoining former Salt Shed, owned by the Pyralisk Arts Center, has been approved for a 11,490 ft² community arts center. On the parcel to the northwest, controlled by Railroad Associates, Inc., a 3-story, 30,000 ft² office building office building is currently under construction. The rail line along Stone Cutters Way adjacent to the bike path remains in active rail use, though much less so now with Bombardier in Barre having been shut down. The site is in the 100 year floodplain. It is also in the Riverfront Zoning and Design Control Districts. The Turntable is eligible for listing as a contributing structure on the Montpelier National Register District, entered on the National Register on November 3, 1978 and "… is a significant, rare, example of a railroad turntable". Project Update The time has come to move the Turntable Park concept forward. The City hired the landscape architect team of Jean Vissering of East Montpelier and Robert White of Norwich, Vermont to develop a design plan for the historic Turntable Park. The City is also in the process of incorporating the site back into the Stone Cutters Way lease area, after which it will become the City’s responsibility to maintain. The design project is being funded entirely with City funds. Funding to construct the park is expected to come from other sources, one of which is may be come from the Designated Downtown Sales Tax Rebate benefits associated with the construction of the River Station office building. Designs Designs produced by Jean Vissering and Robert A. White, ASLA A public workshop was held on September 19, 2002 to review issues and solicit ideas that would help shape the design of the park. From those ideas, the design team developed three preliminary designs and presented them for review and discussion at a special meeting of the MDCA Design Committee on October 3, 2002. Those who attended the September 19 workshop and others were invited to attend. ( September 19, 2002 Workshop Notes )
Design Concept - October 2002 Designs produced by Jean Vissering and Robert A. White, ASLA As a result of the review and discussion of the three alternative designs above, the design team took the comments and developed the following design concepts.
The MDCA Design Committee and others reviewed the plans at their meeting on October 17 and made further suggestions. Robert A. White presented the plans to the Montpelier City Council at their meeting on October 23, 2002. The Council generally accepted the park design, though concerns were expressed that it may be rather extravagant for Montpelier. The Council was quite concerned about the estimated price tag and directed that a scaled back design be presented. The Council also asked that information be provided about non-City sources of funds that would pay for the park and budget implications of future, on-going maintenance costs. Design Concept - November 2002 Designs produced by Jean Vissering and Robert A. White, ASLA
Scaled Back Design Concept - March 2003 Designs produced by Jean Vissering and Robert A. White, ASLA
Contrary to a Times Argus article on November 18, 2002, the City Council DID NOT approve the Turntable Park design or budget. This item was on the Council's November 11, 2002 agenda, but no new action was taken. The Council did, however, agree to proceed with an application to the Downtown Board for the sales tax reallocation at some point in the future to help fund this project. In order to qualify for Designated Downtown Sales Tax Rebate dollars from the River Station project for construction of the park, a design must be developed and approved before the River Station office building is completed. That, and the fact that applications must be submitted to the Downtown Board by the first Monday of each month, are major factors driving the timeline on this project. The applications to the Downtown Board for the Sales Tax Reallocation and for Transportation Funds have been submitted to the Downtown Board. The Board will meet on Monday, March 24, 2003 to review them. March 25, 2003 - Design Review Committee This scaled back phase one plan will be reviewed by the DRC on Tuesday evening, March 25, 2003. The meeting begins at 5:45 PM. This will be an informal review to get preliminary feedback before bringing it before the City Council the next night. March 26, 2003 - City Council The plan will be on the City Council's March 26, 2003 agenda for review and further direction. We still need to fully explore the short and long-term implications of the proposed design, such as construction costs, public safety issues, and long-term maintenance responsibilities. If the Turntable Park design is approved conceptually by the City Council, it will proceed through the local permit process on to the Development Review Board approval.
Contact: City of Montpelier Department of Planning and Community Development 39 Main Street, City Hall Montpelier, VT 05062-2950 (802) 223-9506 planning@montpelier-vt.org |
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Photo from: Vermont's
Granite Railroads, Robert C. Jones, Whitney J. Maxfield, and William G. Gove,
Pruett Publishing Company, 1985, ISBN 0-87108-695-6 
Photo from: Vermont's Granite Railroads, Robert C. Jones, Whitney J. Maxfield, and William G. Gove,
Pruett Publishing Company, 1985, ISBN 0-87108-695-6
