Page 8 - BusinessWest April 1, 2024

Palmer
at a glance
Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 12,448
Area: 32 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $17.15
Commercial Tax Rate: $17.15
Median Household Income: $41,443
Median Family Income: $49,358
Type of government: Town Manager; Town Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Wing Hospital; Sanderson MacLeod Inc., Camp Ramah of New England; Big Y World Class Market
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
Palmer Aims to Expand on Rich Rail History
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
8 APRIL 1, 2024
<< COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >> BusinessWest
Palmer is known to many as the Town of Seven Railroads, a nod to a very rich history as a transit center.
Indeed, several passenger and freight rail lines ran
though the community at one time, most notably the Boston & Albany, which ran east-west between the two cities, and the Central Vermont, which ran north-south from the Canadian border to New London, Conn., with those two railroads shar- ing Union Station, an elegant structure designed by noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson.
Today, rail is still part of the town’s character, with five rail lines still running through the community, a renovated Union Station now serving as home to the popular Steaming Tender restaurant, and a new brewery — called, appropriately enough, Seven Railroads Brewing — opening its doors on Route 20 just a few weeks ago.
Passenger rail service in Palmer ceased back in the 1970s, when Amtrak closed Palmer’s station, leaving few who can recall first-hand that important aspect of the town’s history — and psyche.
But all that could be changing in the not-too-distant future.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has rec- ommended Palmer as a stop on the proposed east-west pas- senger rail service, and is now in the process of studying and eventually selecting a site for a new rail station.
There is no timetable for when that service will start, but the DOT’s backing of Palmer as a stop is generating high levels of excitement and anticipation in the community, said Town Planner Heidi Mannarino, noting that she is already see-
ing more interest in the town and some of its available real estate from the development community. Overall, she and oth- ers are enthusiastic about what a rail stop will mean for the existing business community and ongoing efforts to grow it.
“I’ve already seen more people purchase land and start to eyeball Palmer,” she said, “because once you hear that news ... it’s just so valuable to have that kind of public transportation available.
“Rail will be a great boost for economic development in downtown Palmer,” she went on. “It’s going to bring a lot of business in, and I think it’s going to bridge some econimic gaps between Springfield and Boston.”
Indeed, passenger rail service is expected to change the overall profile of this community, situated roughly halfway between Springfield and Worcester off exit 63 (formerly exit 8) of the Mass Pike. Palmer’s location has always been considered close to the state’s second- and third-largest cities, but, in the eyes of some economic-development leaders, not close enough.
Rail will bring the community closer to both — and also closer to Boston and all of Eastern Mass., said John Latour, Palmer’s director of Community Development, noting that
the proposed service will enable people to live in Palmer and work in Boston and surrounding communities, adding that remote work has already brought some to the town as they seek to escape the sky-high prices for real estate, childcare, and everything else in Greater Boston. And rail service should bring more.
“Whether they’re working fully remote or going to the office