From Community Radio Hour
Thursday, February 7, 2008
By Mary Serreze
Former City Councilor Mike Kirby is a political activist, a freelance investigative journalist, and author. His most recent book, “Back Row, Back Ward” examines the history of the efforts to redevelop Hospital Hill, former site of the Northampton Lunatic Asylum. He spins an arcane tale, involving public agencies, private developers, a string of mayors, and an Advisory Committee that caught the eye of the State Ethics Commission. It’s an alphabet soup: the State Division of Capital Planning and Operations (DCPO), The Community Builders (TCB), The Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC), Hospital Hill LLC, and the mysterious Northampton Development Corporation (NDC). He paints a picture of wishful thinking, back room dealing, pre-ordained conclusions, and disregard for historical values in the pursuit of profit.
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From The Republican
Sunday, February 10, 2008
By Fred Contrada
After a decade of waiting, Northampton is hoping that 2008 will be the year that a new commercial and industrial complex finally rises from the rubble of Northampton State Hospital.
Ever since the hospital shut down in the early 1990s, the city has looked to the sprawling campus as its greatest opportunity for new business space. The process of turning the land over from the state to the city took years. When that was finally accomplished, there was more waiting for the state and federal help needed to develop the site.
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From The Republican
Sunday, February 03, 2008
By Nancy Gonter
The 33 single-family homes and townhouses that Wright Builders plans to construct at Village Hill Northampton will be some of the greenest homes in the city.
Jonathan A. Wright, president of Wright Builders of 48 Bates St., said that construction of the homes will follow the exacting standards required to get the so-called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification which was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council for environmentally sustainable construction.
Construction to the “LEED” standard requires documenting during the construction process that less waste was sent to landfills, miles driven for the project are limited and that soil on the site is conserved, Wright said. There are a series of other standards that must also be followed, he said.
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