Mill River Update

Major work on the planned Mill River Park and Greenway is finally set to start December. Green Seal Environmental has been awarded the contract to begin the 18 month long river restoration work. From the Mill River Collaborative’s Newsletter:

Green Seal bid $5.7 million to perform the construction which involves removal of the Mill Pond dam and walls and construction of a new river channel surrounded by native plants and trees. The work also involves restoration of two small salt marches, partial removal of an old dam under the Pulaski St. Bridge and removal of invasive plant species at several locations along the river…

The contractor will create a bypass channel for the river during construction by installing steel sheet piling the length of the pond 25 ft from the east wall. The new river channel will then be constructed to the west of the temporary channel and the west slope will be graded and planted up to the river path. Once the new channel is completed, the river will be directed into its new path and the east side of the flood plain will be completed.

The newsletter goes on to promise the majority of the park will be built by 2011.

The river restoration is the first of several major construction projects that will occur in the park over the next two years. On the east and west sides of the Mill Pond area, the Collaborative and the City are partnering to construct the largest portions of the park during and immediately following the river restoration work.
This will include a complete redevelopment of the Stage I park site between West Broad and Main Streets. It will involve a totally new topography with hills, and an undulating river valley where a series of pools and riffles will replace the old Mill Pond and where residents will have direct access to the water from banks planted with native vegetation.
The construction will include new path systems, hundreds of new trees and shrubs, a new cherry tree promenade, a new great lawn that can host events for thousands of people and new lighting, irrigation and utility systems. This construction will set the stage for the building of major park features such as the fountain, carousel and “porch” with its café, and grand vistas.

In addition there is a flurry of activity along the greenway corridor.

Recently the Advocate reported the Urban Development commission is finally making headway on a 5 story mixed use condo project that essentially sits in the park. (This is the fenced lot on Washington Blvd. our buddy JR points to in this post.) The building, which has yet to pass the zoning board currently includes in the design a lit entrance into the park and stores that can house visitor amenities.

The new RBS headquarters is slowly wrapping and includes a riverwalk & kiosk open to the public along the rear of their property. A block over on the east side of the river, RBS has purchased and boarded up nearly all the multifamily homes. No one knows quite what they intend to do yet, but the city is on record saying they won’t approve any use that doesn’t incorporate an extension of the greenway.

North of Broad St. the city has taken tentative steps toward forging a connection to Scalzi park. I saw they were bidding on a foreclosed property on Hanarahan St. with the intention of eventually acquiring all the houses on the street and replacing them with a river park. I even noticed on a run recently the shady road that runs along the river connecting Scalzi to the middle school got a major clean up possibly in anticipation of some upgrade into a more formalized connection into the park.

Despite some recent controversies, Harbor Point in the South End is chugging along and the developer has been required to complete many of the parks in Phase 1 of the overall 10 year construction project. The developer also has an office tower project along the river & tracks called Gateway that will most certainly include some greenway incorporation in the vein of RBS’s contribution. Both projects will help string together an albeit discontinuous greenway all the way to the sound.