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NEW BEDFORD — Area residents got their first glimpse of two proposed designs for improvements to State Pier, part of a multi-million dollar process to increase the site’s utilization.
The new designs, unveiled at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Tuesday night by architectural firm Utile, Inc., include plans to move the ferry terminals to the other side of the pier, continue to use the pier for industrial and storage space, and expand its use to retail space, including a restaurant.
“Anyone who understands how grossly underutilized this piece of real estate is will understand why I appreciate MassDevelopment,” said state Sen. Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat and longtime champion of the project. “The only good news of it having taken so long is we have a better product to sell.”
The process involved Utile reaching out to some of the 11 current users of the 8.6-acre site in order to get an understanding of needs and buy-in from current stakeholders. Utile Principal Tim Love told the 100 or so members of the audience that all the current stakeholders asked for more space.
“We’d need two State Piers,” he said, acknowledging that most stakeholders would not be able to get the space they asked for.
Love presented two new plans for the site seeking to make the site safer and “more rational” when it came to devoting space to uses.
The first plan included moving both Seastreak and Cuttyhunk ferries to the northside while reconstructing the southside bulkhead. The Ernestina-Morrissey would remain in place and fishing vessels would still be able to use the south and east for their purposes. In addition, two buildings for retail space would be constructed on MacArthur Boulevard in addition to a terminal building for ferry ticket purchases and waiting.
The second proposal would simply move the ferries to the southside. It would also consolidate the Ernestina-Morrissey and ferry terminal building into a site right behind the proposed retail buildings. It would also create space for a larger parking lot with the option of expanding parking into the industrial area on weekends.
But functionality was not the only concern of the designers.
“As I mentioned, there’s the function of the pier itself,” Love said. “But I think all users have expressed a desire to not have the pier be completely the opposite of Downtown New Bedford.”
The second design would enable the view of the pier from Union Street to terminate with the retail space and a barrier clearly separating it from the industrial space behind.
By far, the largest contingent of the public present at the meeting came from the town of Gosnold, located on Cuttyhunk Island. With only 70 residents, it is the smallest town in The Commonwealth and completely dependent on service from the pier by the Cuttyhunk Ferry Company.
Fears that the ferry would not be included in the new plan were addressed by state Rep. Chris Markey, a Democrat whose district includes Dartmouth, Freetown, and New Bedford.
“The Cuttyhunk Ferry has historically been in New Bedford and will remain in New Bedford,” he said. Representatives from MassDevelopment, the statutory owners of State Pier until the 2050s, told the crowd that this is only the beginning and there will be more opportunity for public comment.
“This is part of the process,” said Robert Jenkins, senior vice president of real estate development for MassDevelopment. “Your involvement in coming to this meeting is following the bouncing ball.”
The public is invited to view the proposals and submit comments online.
Kevin G. Andrade can be contacted at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that any hope of using the rail spurs won’t be considered. What more disturbing is that it appears they want to remove the rail roughly between the Black Whale and where it enters the street in front of the state Pier. This would kill any potential for rail access to the former gas company site and or South Pier area.
Will the tile mural attached to the ferry terminal remain? It was part of an educational project funded by the Mayor’s Office. It is a beautiful piece of community art produced by local NB high school students
The MBTA and Seastreak should develop a rail plan to bring ferry passengers directly to the wharf. Also, future increases in ferry ridership might require moving Seastreak further south from State Pier to the old Gas company site.
I hope that people understand that the main revenue for many decades comes from thr fishing industry and still does. It’s a shame that the industry the city was built on never really takes priority over other projects. The rail should not interfere with the piers and should not go any further than it has or it will interfere with the fishing industry and shoreside operations. Basically what pays the bills for this port.
#1: Mr. Jenkins just what does “following the bouncing ball” actually mean?
#2 Where will the Cutty Hunk ferry be placed on State Pier?
(Or did I miss something?)
I say move the storage building and what goes with it to the lot where the electric company was. There is plenty of room for it over there and then redesign the old building on State pier and make it an attraction of some kind.
The revenue from the “fishing industry” can easily be doubled by the “recreational industry”. Have all the fishing boats relocate North of the bridge and open the South of the bridge harbor to more recreational boats and shops and parking. Think Newport not Gulfport! Sea level rise, even with the dike, will torch all the dreams within fifty years anyway!