Mall site overseers worry a little about growing demands

The nonprofit created to oversee the revitalization of the downtown mall property is finding itself juggling a whole lot more.
“It seems like more and more people are throwing stuff into our bowl,” said its chairman,. Frank Johnson.
Johnson said he’s “a little concerned” that the Bristol Downtown Development Corp., created by the city last year to oversee the 17-acre mall site, is moving a bit too far afield from its legal mandate.
He said that officials and residents are talking to the mall site overseers as if they controlled the fate of all sorts of downtown property, from Main Street to the central firehouse.
“Because we’re here, we’re the guys being asked to tie it all together,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he doesn’t want Mayor Art Ward and the City Council to feel as though the nonprofit is stepping on anyone’s toes.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne, who is the council liaison to the company, said he would talk with Ward about the issues and see if there’s anything to worry about.
Johnson said it is “increasingly obvious there’s this pent-up desire on the part of a lot of people” to tackle other issues related to the city center.
Business owners, for example, just asked the nonprofit’s board to consider setting aside some land on the Main Street side to allow for angled parking there, which would relieve the parking shortage they face.
There is backing within the downtown corporation to spread its wings.
“This group needs to get beyond the 17 acres,” said John Leone, a former mayor and member of the company’s seven-person board of director.
He said it should “push the envelope a little bit” to include the former Chic Miller dealership site, the fire house, Summer Street, the Memorial Boulevard School auditorium and maybe more.
Leone said he would like to see some thought given to how the various sites could tie in with what’s going on at the mall property.
At the very least, Leone said, the nonprofit has to consider the Chic Miller and Boulevard School issues because those sites were included in the downtown development area approved by the state.
He said that if the company is “going to wipe them off the map,” it doesn’t make sense that the city went to so much trouble to have the areas included in the revitalization zone to begin with.
City councilors have rejected efforts to negotiate for the purchase of the former West Street car dealership, but that decision could be revisited, officials said.



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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com