Successful Mooooooove

Hope is designed to hold four football players (linemen no less)

Hope the cow crossed North Pleasant Street safely and has now taken up residence between Realignment (pocket) Park and (expansive) Kendrick Park.

Hope is part fundraiser for the homeless, part pubic art and mostly fun for kids (and adults) to hop aboard for a photo shoot.  The move was necessitated by the impending construction of One East Pleasant Street.

 Jada wishes Hope could fly

Signs Of Spring & Coming Development

Electric Company will use Kendrick Park as a staging area

The DPW was out at Kendrick Park this week trimming trees to make way for the heavy equipment Eversource will be using to underground all the unsightly power lines and cables in the north end of downtown.

Amherst received a $1.5 million Mass Works grant for the project and Governor Patrick even came calling to deliver the good news in person.

 North end of downtown will benefit by burying utility lines

Of course conspiracy theorists will say it was all an inside job to assist Archipelago Investments with improving the street appeal of their new five-story mixed-use building with expensive apartments making up the lion's share of the facility.

A few years ago the town was twice turned down for a $4 million Mass Works grant to rehabilitate Pine Street in North Amherst.

Town Meeting had voted down a pro-development Form Based Zoning article leading the state to believe we did not deserve a significant infusion of money to assist with collateral development issues, i.e. infrastructure improvements.

   Kendrick Place was bitterly opposed by usual NIMBY/BANANA contingent

So in a sense Kendrick Place probably did lead to the acquisition of the grant.  Not to mention One East Pleasant now preparing for construction at the former Carriage Shops just down the road.

 Roundabout proposed for Triangle/East Pleasant intersection

On Monday night the Select Board will approve a roundabout design for Triangle/East Pleasant Streets in the shadow of Kendrick Place, and a gateway to our #1 employer, UMass.

 Hope will move to a safer pasture across the street

Realignment Park (bottom center/left)

The Select Board, as "keepers of the public way" will also approve the relocation of Hope the Cow from in front of the slated-for-destruction Carriage Shops to Realignment Park across the street.

Hold on to your hard hats, good things are happening.  Finally!

Keep Hope

 The two arrows do not take up much space but are a tad ugly

In addition to seeking permission to move Hope the cow across the street to Relocation Park, pointman Jerry Gates also asked the Public Arts Commmission to support his quest to remove the temporary arrow signs the DPW installed back in the early 1970s when North Pleasant Street was initially realigned.

 Jerry Gates (right) at Public Arts Commission meeting 12/17/15

That traffic project created a small island of turf where the road once ran, and in 1994 the Public Arts Commission approved the art project called, appropriately enough, "Realignment Park".

 The Business Improvement District uncovered and now maintains the pocket park

a

 Hope is designed to hold three large football lineman

Hope will be  reinstalled just outside the art work footprint to the north, close to where the DPW road signs are currently located and she will continue to face west.  The Design Review Board already gave permission for the move but wish to see whatever signage is attached to Hope.

The Select Board, as keepers of the public way, have final approval over the relocation and the removal of the aging "temporary" DPW road signs.

Keep Them Doggies Movin'

Hope

Why did the bovine cross the road?  To avoid a major demolition.

Hope the cow will move from her current location at 233 North Pleasant Street, the former Carriage Shops, to Realignment Park directly across the street at 236 North Pleasant Street, in front of a building owned by Barry Roberts.

The cow was fabricated as a combination public art project piggy bank with all the proceeds going to Craig's Doors homeless shelter.

The Design Review Board voted unanimously last night to approve the relocation although point person Jerry Gates said he would come back for approval of any smaller signs placed on Hope (like "Ride at your own risk").

The board also suggested she continue to face west after relocation so folks approaching her from Kendrick Park or town center will have a more inviting view of her sides rather than rear end.

Click to enlarge/read

The Business Improvement District also submitted a letter of support pointing out they have cleaned up the public art space around "Relocation Park" and wish to see the popular cow stay in town center.

The relocation will need the approval of the Public Arts Commission and it is on their 12/17 agenda.  Chair Rene Theberge was also in attendance last night and seemed supportive.

The Amherst Select Board as "keepers of the public way" have final authority over the move and with this being an election year they are probably not going to want to mess with a popular downtown icon -- especially one named "Hope".

Hope (visible top center) would be located a few feet north of this art installation