Natick Students Offer Visions for the Future of Town Center
By Thomas Grillo

Student participants in the Kids Create Natick Center program work on their redesigns of Natick's downtown.

A waterfall on the Natick Common, a community center along Main Street, a café with structured parking at Middlesex Street and a pedestrian-friendly artists' colony on Adams Street.

If this sounds like a redesign of downtown by Natick's planning officials, think again. The five-week, 10-hour collaborative session to recreate the center was recently completed by a dozen middle school and high school students. The youthful participants - armed with felt-tip pens, cardboard and colored construction paper - were given the task of reshaping a district that needs revitalization.

"Natick Center needs a place for kids to hang out because right now there isn't one," said Matt Schneider, whose design of a drop-in center, created with fellow student Spencer Cohen, included a skywalk for safe passage along busy Route 27.

Funded with a $2,200 grant from the Boston Foundation for Architecture, the Kids Create Natick Center program allowed the students to participate in town planning and shape their future. The project provided youngsters the opportunity to demonstrate how they want the center to look in coming years. Working with a pair of architects, the students were given maps and the space to create collages, drawings and models. Natick Center Assoc. donated $500, making it possible for the program to be offered for free.

"The idea is to embarrass adults into action," said Ann Sussman, one of the architects who guided the students. "These kids showed that they are stakeholders in the neighborhood. Look what kids can do."

Matt and Spencer's community center, for example, also would include an Olympic-sized pool for students. The town's winter swim team lacks a pool and must drive to Wayland for practice. "You'd come into the lobby and there'd be a regulation-size pool and a kiddie pool, the gym would be on the second floor, as well as an arcade, exercise room, food court, function room available for rental and a roof garden," said Matt of the plan he co-designed.

'So Creepy'
Molly and Sarah McEahern, whose mother has one of the artist's studios on Adams Street, said their goal is to spruce up the street with awnings, flower boxes and a raised wooden walkway that invites the public into the space.

"My mother complains that no one ever visits the studios because the street is so creepy," said Molly. "Our idea is to create an environment that attracts attention for artists to advertise their work."

Abby Craig said the potholed street is unsafe for pedestrians and as a result, cars and trucks use it as a shortcut. "It needs to be repaved because it looks more like an alley than a street," she said. "The sidewalk is scary and unsafe in the winter and repaving the road will make it friendlier."

Alex Barr, a student who found a historic picture of Natick Center from the 1800s with a water fountain in the downtown, said the attraction should be recreated. "I'd like to see the fountain return because it was an important landmark," he said.

One of the problems with Natick Center is the lack of parking, according to Aly Goldman. In response, the Natick High School senior designed a café and a multi-level parking garage.

Matt and Spencer set their sights on the Natick Common and added a few elements that could lure more people to the green space. "We wanted to redesign the common because it's outdated and would benefit from a bigger and better gazebo," Spencer said. "Our vision is to install a fish pond and make it a destination. On a hot summer day, a pair of fountains would spruce up the place and make it feel more alive with more trees and more flowers."

Avgial Shimshoni, an architect who also guided the program, said the students had wide latitude in design and decided which projects to undertake. There were no limits on what they could imagine, she added.

"We left it open to them because our hope was to let their imaginations fly," she said. "The idea was to make an impact and express an idea. It was not about solving the immediate problem because transforming any space can't be done in 10 hours. Kids chose their own place to redesign."

The student project comes as the redesigned Natick Mall is about to open in September with a new name and more upscale stores. The 500,000-square-foot expansion known as the Natick Collection will include Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, luxury boutiques, specialty stores and restaurants. The mall also will feature new tile and wood floors, glass handrails, contemporary ceilings and new landscaping, as well as a redesigned food court. Adjacent to the shopping center will be a 115-unit condominium complex, called Nouvelle at Natick, with units priced from $425,000 to $1.5 million

But Sussman said while the new mall is getting all the attention, it raises the question of how to keep Natick Center thriving. While the new mall offers luxury condos above the mall, historic buildings in the downtown above the stores are underused and could be turned into housing, she said.

"Across town, Natick's identity is being set by a mall developer, but within a few hours the students said that Natick Center needed a nightclub, a place for a gym, better restaurants, a Dunkin' Donuts, a pool, a skywalk, public bathrooms, a playground, more trees. What they are really saying it that the mall is not really for us," she said. "We have to start showing a new way that is less about cars and more human-centric. The kids get it, and they don't even have their learner's permits [to drive] yet."

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Youthful ideas for downtown
By Kathy Uek
Friday, April 06, 2007

A community center, a parking garage with a cafe and a dressed-up alley are some of the projects 17 students envision for Natick's Center.

In Kids Create Natick Center, an innovative five-week program, students from Natick High and Kennedy and Wilson Middle schools used real world planning maps and architectural tools to plan a Natick Center they want.

Students in Kids Create Natick Center worked with teachers and architects, Avigail Shimshoni of Natick and Ann Sussman of Acton, and created models and collages of their vision.

Abby Craig and Molly McEachern, both eighth-graders, chose to make the alley on Adams Street in downtown Natick more attractive by adding awnings and flower boxes to the buildings.

Seventh grader Sarah McEachern designed a '50s-style cafe at the train stop with a playground nearby.

As part of the Kids Create project, students looked at photos of Natick's past and discovered the town once had a fountain with a street light at the intersection of Main Street and Rte. 27," said Ann Sussman. "They all fell in love with it. It was a symbol of the center. Three different groups of students worked on a project rediscovering the fountain."

Natick High senior Aly Goldman worked on a new multi-level parking garage with a cafe.

"She was very interested that the facade would fit in with Natick's architecture and look like a building and not just a slab for a garage," said Shimshoni.

According to Sussman, Aly was also concerned that the garage be an active and interesting part of the street, which is why she had cafe on the ground floor.

Seventh-grader Matt Schneider said Natick needed a community center and made a programmatic study of what it would look like. "He tried to show a pool, a fitness room and an event hall and he did it all to scale to fit on the site in place of the missing tooth building," Sussman said.

Eighth-graders Matt Eldridge and Spencer Cohen designed a reflecting wading pool with a bridge over it for the common with two fountains nearby, according to Sussman.

Sussman works with Learning By Design, a design education program of the Boston Society of Architects. At Community Visioning, which is part of Learning By Design, Sussman has worked in several area cities and towns and plans to take the community planning project state wide.

"It makes it more democratic," she said. "In this case the people are doing the architecture. The program teaches people to read and work with plans. To explore the concepts that could improve Natick."

According to Program Director Deb Sayre at Kids Connect, students learned architectural skills and worked with large models and plans. "The kids loved it. The creativity of the kids was incredible."

Every Wednesday from Feb. 28 to March 28, the students met for two hours - for a total of 10 hours. Some worked individually on a project, while others worked as a group.

"People underestimate what the kids can do, said Shimshoni, a board member of Natick Center Associates, who represents them on the design review board. She has also been involved in educating children in schools about Natick Center. During Kids Create Natick Center, Shimshoni's children Nitzan and Lior Zippel, 9 and 7 respectively, sometimes helped out.

"It's amazing the kids really care about their town," said Shimshoni. "I loved every minute of it. I thought it was very enlightening to see a group of youths so committed and interested in their town. They had great ideas."

The Kids Create Natick Center received funding from the Boston Foundation for Architecture. It received additional funding from Natick Center Associates and was run in coordination with Natick 360, the town of Natick's strategic planning initiative. Many Natick citizens as well as Learning By Design, a children's design education program of the Boston Society of Architects, contributed additional logistical support.

"It was incredible how much support, help and advice we got from the community including Gini Lyster from the Historical Commission who provided a lot of materials and worked with the kids, the GAS in the DPW, which made maps possible for us and talked to the students, Natick Center Associates provided funds so the children didn't have to pay for the materials, the 360 was very supportive throughout the project and Abby Reidy from the library and Debsan also helped," said Avigail.

Students plan to present models and collages of their ideas for Natick Center's future at the Wilson Middle School gym Tuesday, April 10, from 7 to 7:25. The presentation is a special event just prior to Town Meeting which convenes in the Wilson auditorium at 7:30 PM.

Please note because of the recent voting issues, Selectmen will decide Wednesday evening if Town Meeting will be postponed. For more information on the status of the meeting and Kids Connect visit www.kids-connect.org.

With the success of Kids Create Natick Center, Sayre hopes to have Natick High School students design a new high school.

"Kids do important work and express their creativity in a way useful to town."

Kids Connect now tutors more than 40 students from second grade through high school, according to Deb Sayre, who founded Kids Connect five years ago. "We believe in the kids so much. I watch these kids bloom and get proficient in their subjects and they feel so much better about themselves. It's incredible."

(Kathy Uek can be reached at 508-626-4419 or kuek@cnc.com.)

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A sweet deal for garage?
By Kathy Uek
Friday, January 12, 2007

A year ago after part of the Middlesex Avenue Garage buckled, the structure was demolished. The town paved the property and is using it as a parking lot reducing the number of downtown parking spaces to 92.

With the help of TR Advisors and a developer, Natick may turn that dilemma into a win/win. "The community is hopeful that development on this site will include parking and residential units and bring tax revenue to the town," said Martha White, deputy town administrator. "The property is a real keystone to the downtown area and properly developed, it can be an asset." Not only will Natick have additional parking spaces for workers and shoppers, it will maximize the use of the two-thirds acre property by building residential units on top of the garage. Natick hired TR Advisors LLC to review a request for proposal collaboratively written by the town, which ultimately will be sent out to private developers for bid.

The winning developer will build a new garage in its place. In return the developer gets to keep the parking revenue and build housing on top of it, said White. Sound familiar? National Development has a similar project under construction for the MBTA. The project named Arbor Point at Woodland MBTA Station in Newton has housing on top of a parking garage.

Woodland Station is an example of where TR Advisors created a public private partnership, according to Lorna Moritz, executive director for Boston-based TR Advisors LLC. "The project created a new parking garage for the site that is jointly used for the developer's residential property as well as commuters on the Green Line. It will have 500 parking spaces and about 175 residential units. The project is partially financed by the T and the developer."

TR Advisors wrote and coordinated the public bid package and performed several other functions for the residential and commuter parking project.

TR Advisors specializes in handling property for public agencies, said Moritz. "Our particular expertise is in rights of way and parking. It's a very obscure niche of real estate. We help government agencies and others with real estate assets that are secondary from their core value. Many don't realize there is a value they can realize from these assets without disturbing what their core mission is."

TR Advisors' company affiliate, Boston-based Transit Realty Associates, manages all the MBTA's properties - the company's biggest project, according to Moritz, also executive director for Transit Realty Associates." We've been managing the MBTA properties since 1996 and have produced more than $100 million in additional non-fare revenues," said Moritz. "We do projects like the one in Natick every day," Moritz added. "This particular project in Natick would be a TOD (transit oriented development), which is defined as parking that is one quarter of a mile within a transit station (walking distance)."

There's another benefit. "When property is owned by a public agency, it's not on the tax rolls," said Moritz. "Once the developer gets involved, it goes back on the rolls. More revenue for the town."Before asking the Board of Selectmen to sign off on a request for proposal and start the bidding process, the town administrator's office hired TR Advisers to review the project's attractiveness to potential developers.How did all this come about? "A study was done several years ago as part of a downtown study and Natick Center Associates got involved as well about the potential to use the parking garage for other uses," according to John Ciccariello, Selectmen Chairman. "We did some more research and as a result we decided to see if a developer could come in and do a project," he said. "When a couple of other developers heard, they got in touch with us and talked about the potential to develop and save the town from debt exclusion or financing directly."

If an agency doesn't have sufficient funds to accomplish their goals, they can look for a private developer and both benefit, said Moritz. "The project helps them capture that value in a way they couldn't using their own funds. The public agency leverages the value of their real estate they wouldn't otherwise to be able to do. In these tight times, it is sometimes the only way it can get done."

"Natick Center Associates reviewed the plans and we continue to keep them informed of any substantive modifications made, said White. "They are the most affected group."

TR Advisors is due to complete their analysis Jan. 15. "Once we get that back, if the RFP as written is not enticing to developers, they will be suggesting changes to make it more of interest," said White. "It will take us a couple of weeks, depending on the changes, to revise and present it to the selectman before sending it out for bid."

As the project is now envisioned, a developer would build at least 330 spaces, but ideally it wants up to 420 or more, to replace not just the lost spots from the old garage but meet an even greater demand for parking in the area, according to White.Natick would allow the developer to build housing above the parking, but it wants the developer to make 20 percent of the units affordable. The developer would also have to include additional parking spaces to serve residents. The developer could also propose extra uses of the space, such as restaurants or shopping, according White.

"From Natick Center's perspective, ultimately it has to make sense to a developer in order to put in the housing component, make a good buck and provide affordable parking," said Arthur Fair, president of Natick Center Associates. "If all that comes together it would be wonderful for the town. It would go a long way to address the parking problem, which at least has been a 20 to 30-year problem."TR Advisors will examine the number of parking spaces and housing units proposed for the property, as well as other factors, to determine if it financially feasible for both parties," according to White. If the consultant's review does not call for major changes, White said, the RFP process would give developers at least 90 days to respond.

(Kathy Uek can be reached at 508-626-4419 or kuek@cnc.com

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PRESS RELEASE    PRESS RELEASE    PRESS RELEASE

Press Contact: Natick Center Associates, Inc. 508-650-8848

“Kids Create Natick Center” in 2007!

Natick (January 8, 2007) – An innovative new program to allow kids to participate in town planning and have a hand in shaping their future, debuts in Natick this winter. “Kids Create Natick Center” will give young people the opportunity to show how they want Natick Center to look in coming years.  Working with two local architects, Avigail Shimshoni, AIA, of Natick and Ann Sussman, AIA, of Acton, the kids will be given real-world maps and plans and the space to create collages, drawings and models. At the end of the 5-week session students will present their work to the public on Monday, April 9, 2007 at 7:00 PM at the Morse Institute Library as part of the Natick Center Associates Community Forum series.

“Kids Create Natick Center” is geared for kids in grade 6 through 12. No art, architecture or planning experience is necessary; however, creativity, enthusiasm and a commitment to community are more than welcome. The sessions meet Wednesdays, February 28th to March 28th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Kids-Connect, 43 Main Street, Natick. The $15 materials fee will be covered by Natick Center Associates, Inc. to ensure that kids are able to participate.  To register, call Kids-Connect, (508) 652-4211. Registration is also possible on-line at www.kids-connect.org.

This Kids-Connect program received funding from the Boston Foundation for Architecture (www.bfagrants.org) and is run in coordination with Natick Center Associates and Natick 360, the Town of Natick’s strategic planning initiative.  For more information, contact Avigail Shimshoni at 508-647-8277 (ashimsho@alum.mit.edu) or Ann Sussman at 978-790-7776 (ann@communityvisioning.net).

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Garage repair money sought
By Claudia Torrens/ Daily News Staff
Tuesday, August 8, 2006

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Natick Center Associates receives Comcast Award
(in Word format)

From left to right the names of individuals in the photo are: Senator Karen Spilka; Vic Pascarelli, Comcast East Area Marketing Director; Representative Alice Peisch; Frank Foss, Manager Government Community Relations; and Carol Gloff, Natick Board of Selectman.

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In Natick, a long wait for a few spaces
By Claudia Torrens / Daily News Staff
Wednesday, September 28, 2005

NATICK -- A proposed new parking garage downtown may add much-needed spaces for motorists, but in the meantime there are about 60 people on a waiting list to get parking permits for downtown lots.

The last time a permit became available was July 1, and some businesses have been waiting for more than a year for one, Community Development Office staff said yesterday. About 30 people are on the waiting list for the commuter parking lot at the corner of Mulligan Street and South Avenue.

"When people find out there is a waiting list, many say 'forget it' and they take their chances trying to park downtown," said Sebastian Grupposo, Natick's parking clerk and hearing officer.

The town has given out all of its 317 parking permits downtown and its 95 permits at the commuter parking lot, so business owners have no other choice than wait for one to become available. The Community Development Office receives calls from people to be included in the lists every week but also erases the names of those who say they are not interested in the permits anymore.

Annette Hines, from Hines & Associates, LLC, has been waiting two months for four parking permits for her employees.

"This is having an awful impact on my business," said Hines. "Not only do my employees have to move their cars from one spot to another every two hours, but my clients interrupt the meetings because they have to do the same thing."

Hines said her office has paid more than $100 in parking fines since July because meters downtown only allow motorists to park for two hours. Natick Police Sgt. Cara Rossi Cafarelli confirmed that meters around downtown have a two-hour limit.

A Natick parking permit entitles the holder to park at one of three parking lots: the South Avenue lot behind the police station, the Middlesex Garage and the Pond Street-West Central municipal lot. The fee for a permit to park downtown is $300 a year. A permit for the commuter parking lot costs $550 a year for residents and $650 for nonresidents. Grupposo said the number of permits available and the fees are the same as last year.

The town has been discussing an initiative that for some could be the solution for a long-discussed problem.

Town officials have finished drafting a project that would allow using a percentage of revenue from the Natick Mall property taxes to finance expansion of the Middlesex Garage. The money would be used to demolish part of the downtown garage and rebuild it to expand the facility from 174 parking spaces to 360. Under the same project, the town hopes to use a portion of property tax revenue from the Cloverleaf Mall and downtown, too.

The concept would be allowed under the state's District Improvement Financing, or DIF, law, which permits towns to issue bonds secured by only the pledge of future property taxes. Town Meeting will vote on the issue next month.

"We need that garage. It is necessary," said Grupposo.

The Middlesex Savings Bank uses 153 parking passes every year and needs 10 more. Staff at the Community Development Office, however, said businesses that have no parking permits have priority over a business with many permits.

Town workers also said they sometimes receive calls from business owners saying if they had known about the parking situation downtown before, they would have not opened their businesses in Natick.

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Town Looks At Using Revenue For Mall

By Claudia Torrens / Daily News Staff
July 26, 2005
(in PDF format)

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