ATHOL — Town Manager Shaun Suhoski awarded the contract for the Lord Pond Plaza greening project last Thursday to J. Bates & Son, a Clinton-based company that submitted the lowest of five bids at nearly $2.8 million.
The contract follows Athol’s receipt of a $3 million Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant, awarded last August, which will fund the transformation of the six-acre plaza. The project includes daylighting Mill Brook, which currently runs beneath the parking lot, as well as the creation of wetlands, green space, and pollinator gardens. The revamped plaza will also feature a community event space and improved traffic safety measures.
Bids for the project were opened on September 10 and reviewed by BCS Group, the town’s engineering consultant, which recommended that Bates be awarded the contract, the Athol Daily News reported.
This year, the town will receive $1 million from the grant, with the remaining $2 million scheduled for disbursement in fiscal year 2026.
“We actually expect (Bates) to mobilize, order materials and get a jump start on construction before the end of June, before the end of this fiscal year,” Suhoski said. “But most of the work will occur later in the summer and into 2026.”
Suhoski noted that Bates’ bid coming in under budget could allow the town to revisit aspects of the original project that had been cut due to funding concerns.
“I want to give one caveat,” Suhoski said. “We had a concept for some green space and community space, a community garden, behind the senior center and the veterans center; it’s just kind of a dusty sandlot back there, but it’s connected to the plaza. In our original plans we had some improvements slated for that, but we took them out because – with it – the engineer’s estimate was over the $3 million. We’re hopeful we’ll be able to access the full $3 million from the state and we have $100,000 in available local grant match monies, so we feel that one way or another, we will get some additional work done that was taken out of the project before the bid.”
The town manager emphasized the impact of the project on Athol’s downtown area.
“Right now, it’s not a calling card for downtown Athol. It’s not functional. If you’re walking or driving through the parking lot, your head is on a swivel,” he said. “It’s not safe for the seniors, the veterans, the pedestrians – it’s not safe for traffic; people are cutting through all different ways. And it creates a documented urban heat island – all that pavement.”
Calling it a “legacy project”, Suhoski expressed optimism that the improvements could encourage further private investment in the area.
“We’re going to be greening up the space, making it safer, and perhaps that will even spur additional investment, private investment, in some of the challenged properties that surround that area,” he said. “That’s the hope.”
