Page 13 - BusinessWest May 1, 2023
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 then want to linger downtown, and, of course, we want people to linger down- town,” he said. “With the new design, they will be able to get takeout from one of our restaurants and sit at a pic- nic table or park bench in the middle of a bucolic lawn.”
As the project goes out to bid, sev- eral contractors have already told Bock- elman they hope to win the contract because the North Common will be such a high-profile job. Construction is scheduled to start in late fall, with com- pletion slated for spring 2024.
“It will be a great civic space where we will have flag raisings, celebrations of different cultures, and, because it’s Amherst, we’ve even created a special space to stage protests,” he said.
Gould said more evidence that Amherst is back can be seen in the restaurants that are busier today than they were before the pandemic. “Res- taurant owners are telling me that they’ve never had numbers like this. Many are looking at opening second restaurants.”
“I’ve talked with people who were unleashed from their offices and could live anywhere, and they chose to live in Amherst because of the schools, open space, and cultural attractions downtown. Our town has become a real magnet for people who work remote most of the time.”
Meanwhile, the student population continues to increase as Hampshire College plans to add 200 additional students in the fall.
And downtown will get another boost, with Amherst Cinema being chosen as one of only 12 film houses in the U.S. to show entries into the Sundance Film Festival when it takes place next year. The popular cinema will be the only place in the Northeast to view the Sundance entries.
“That means, during the festival, people will be coming here from Man- hattan and Boston because Amherst Cinemas is the closest place in this region to see those films,” Gould said.
Even longtime attractions like the Emily Dickinson Museum are benefit- ing from the new energy in Amherst. After closing for renovations for part of last year, the museum is busier than ever and draws visitors from all over the world. Many new visitors
are young people who discovered the Belle of Amherst through the Apple TV+ series Dickinson.
In the office Pazmany and Gould share, the phone has been ringing much more of late with people com-
plaining they can’t find a hotel room in the area. As much as Pazmany wants to accommodate all visitors to the area, she also recognizes one of those pro- verbial ‘good problems to have.’
There are actually several of them, she said, noting that people are also complaining about traffic and a need for more places to park.
“Well, the complaint desk is active again, and that’s certainly a sign that we’re busy again,” she said, adding that, after the COVID years, such complaints are more than welcome. BW
Amherst Burger Company is just one of many new additions to the downtown landscape.
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