Page 12 - BusinessWest September 2, 2024

Tyler Saremi sits at the bar at West Side Bar & Grill, one of the many new businesses creating what he calls “cross- pollination” in the downtown.
Staff Photo
and eating on the picnic tables he has outside, or they’re going back to the town offices — it’s great to see.”
Quink agreed, and, like Saremi, she said the infrastructure work taking place downtown, which includes a roundabout at the for- mer intersection of Elm and Westfield streets, new sidewalks, new lighting, and considerable work to make the town common more accessible and walkable, have helped make the area more of a destination.
“The city is doing a good job of making the town common more appealing,” she noted. “They have events there, like the Taste of West Springfield and events for veterans; it’s a great asset for the community.
“The construction has been really challenging for some small businesses on Elm Street,” she went on. “But the end result is going to be good; we just have to get through this period.”
As noted earlier, this renewed vibrancy downtown is one of the many emerging storylines in West Springfield. Others include the year-long 250th celebration, which has brought residents and busi- nesses together to mark the past and contemplate the future; a new Chick-fil-A going into the site of the former Friendly’s on Riverdale Street; and, of course, the upcoming 17-day Big E, which will bring more than 1.5 million people to the community, clogging many of its roads, but also providing a huge boost to its many hotels and other hospitality-related businesses (see story on page 15).
There’s also ongoing infrastructure work along the two main commercial arteries — Riverdale Street and Memorial Avenue. With the latter, a project due to be finished in 2026, crews are undertak- ing underground utility work, said Reichelt, adding that, in the next construction season, concrete work from the Memorial Bridge to the border with Agawam will be completed, along with new curbing and lane reconfigurations.
On Riverdale Street, utility work is also being undertaken, with repaving coming over the next few years, he said, adding that, while it is inconvenient to have both major arteries torn up at the same time, the town will bene-
fit when the projects are West Springfield
completed. Continued on page 39
Mass. hub; and an engineering company.
These businesses are bringing people back to that property to
work years after United Bank left, he said, adding that these work- ers, coupled with those already downtown — there are dozens of businesses along Park and Elm streets, as well as West Spring- field’s town offices — have created a critical mass of people that not only support other businesses, but generate more overall vibrancy.
“When the bank took off and left all those offices vacant, it was very quiet in the downtown,” he noted. “Now, I can look out my office window at any time, and there’s people walking around; there’s foot traffic. People are going into Celery Stalk, walking out
“The mill buildings are sandwiched between the Westfield River and the train tracks, and you have to get over the train tracks to access them right now. So having that alternative access opens themuptoa
lot of different uses they’re not suitable for now.”
>>
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12 SEPTEMBER 2, 2024 << COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
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