Originally forecast at $60 million, the Great River Bridge project is the most costly road construction project in the Pioneer Valley.
The new $500,000 clock tower has been installed just south of the Great River Bridge in Westfield.WESTFIELD – How much does it cost for a 60-foot-tall clock tower erected as one of the capstones of a now nearly $80 million project to build a new bridge across the Westfield River here?
The price tag for the new clock that’s debuted along Routes 10 and 202 on Elm Street is $500,000. Whether it was federal, state or city money which paid for it isn’t exactly clear; the buyer apparently remains a mystery.
No matter what public funding source paid the bill, though, it’s among the expenditures for a project that’s been four years in construction, four decades in the making and now running at costs nearly 30 percent more than projected when ground was broken four years ago.
Installation of the clock was completed 10 days ago on the south side of the Great River Bridge project. Officials defend the project as a reinvention of the heart of this city.
The clock tower went up the same week that Mayor Daniel M. Knapik scrapped a controversial pavilion, also estimated to cost $500,000, from plans for redoing the other end of the city’s central business district.
That project to recreate the Park Square Green and redesign the intersection of Elm, Broad and Main streets is costing some $14.5 million, funded by federal stimulus money through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
The bridge project, in the planning stages for nearly two decades, was put out to bid by the state Department of Transportation in 2006, and is part of a federally funded enhancement program administered through the state, according to state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield.
“The bulk of the cost came from the federal government through a massive transportation bill that sends money to the states,” Knapik said. “Eighty percent comes from federal aid and 20 percent from state bonding sources.”
But state Department of Transportation spokesman Adam L. Hurtubise, who confirmed that the cost of the newly installed clock tower amounted to $500,000, said the fee for the new timepiece is being paid by the city.
City engineer
“The amount is $500,000,” Hurtubise said. “The city of Westfield is paying this amount for the clock.”
The state’s willingness to fund the entire ambitious and long-awaited project, Knapik said, was based largely on the city’s commitment to “put skin in the game” by investing in the reconstruction of the downtown area by putting up nearly $5 million for the initial design.
Those plans were laid during the administration of one of his brother’s predecessors as mayor, Richard K. Sullivan Jr.
“The design was paid for by the city using Chapter 90 funds,” the senator explained.
Chapter 90 funds are state money which is distributed annually to cities and towns and which must be allocated to roadway improvements, including resurfacing, crack sealing and drainage enhancement. The funds are apportioned based on a formula that takes into account local road miles, population and employment levels within the municipality; Westfield’s amount for the coming year is $1.225 million.
“As the project went on, the scope needed to expand, and officials saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something on a grander scale,” senator Knapik said. “The money was generally available at the time, but (the project) has since escalated in cost. It was originally estimated at $60 million.”
In addition to the design work, Knapik said, the city paid for necessary land takings in the construction area.
“The city’s responsibility for the project centers largely around the design and land takings, which is customary for projects partnered with the state,” he stated.
“The three major land takings involved the casket company and demolition, which came down last month, a rickety old building at the end of Meadow Street, which is now that new parking lot across from the funeral parlor, and the Blessed Sacrament Church.”
As the project inches toward a late summer or early fall completion date, the finishing touches, like the clock tower, designed with an eye toward conformity with the area’s architecture, are currently in the works while construction crews continue rebuilding the original bridge.
City engineer Mark S. Cressotti says the clock tower was patterned to mirror the area’s architecture and purposely resembles the tower of Holy Trinity Church, which is located across the street.
“There’s a striking similarity between the two,” Cressotti noted. “It was meant to mirror the form of the church tower to keep the same theme in the area. I was standing out there while it was being erected, and I thought it really anchored the space and gave it a sense of balance.”
The clock tower, he added, should stand as a symbol of pride for the citizens of Westfield.
The new $500,000 clock tower has been installed just south of the Great River Bridge in Westfield.“It is just one piece of a significant undertaking – this was not an easy project,” Cressotti said. “This was an undertaking that did not just stop at functionality, but was intended to reinvent the heart of the city. The tower is an element of that – the central focal image.”
State Rep. Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield, said the construction of the new northbound bridge and park, along with the reconstruction of the old span that will carry traffic southbound, is second only to Boston’s infamous Big Dig as the biggest, most complex roadway project in the state. The project included the razing and rebuilding of the railroad bridge.
Both Knapik and Humason pointed out that the funds for the project were earmarked prior to the current economic downturn facing the country – funds that would not be available today to the extent they were at the time when it was designed.
“This was funded and conceived of before the recession,” Humason noted. “If it was today, the scope of the project would change. It’s been long in the planning and long in the doing, but I’m optimistic that it will be worth the cost, time and inconvenience.”
At the time ground was broken for the bridge project in 2007, the project was forecast to cost $60 million.
For those who believe the $80 million price tag that comes with the entire project is too high, it is important to keep in mind that the end result will attract new residents and businesses and will provide the city with a point of pride that will last for generations to come, Knapik, Humason and Cressotti said.
“Why is there such a thing as ‘too good’ for Westfield?” Cressotti said. “This will impact the self-image of students growing up in Westfield so that the area is not just a burned-out center but a place they can be proud of.”
The “burned-out center” comment was an apparent reference to the still-vacant Elm Street lot where a J.J. Newberry’s store burned more than two decades ago.
The Newberry’s lot and neighboring property, totaling some four acres in the middle of the downtown, were to have been part of an intermodal transportation center and hotel complex that never got off the ground.
As recently as January, city leaders said the project for that area will now focus more on commercial and retail development with some transportation component.
Westfield “will be the place to be once it all takes shape,” Cressotti said. “You can see it on paper, but once you’re there, it’s a whole other experience.”