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March 29, 2010

Fitchburg State Steps In To Clean Up Blight

Photo/Courtesy “As Fitchburg goes, so goes the college.” Robert Antonucci, president, Fitchburg State College

For about the last two years a hot topic in Fitchburg has been what to do with an old one-story Main Street building sitting directly across from the city’s train station in the heart of the downtown.

Officials and residents hope the prime piece of real estate could be a hub for revitalization efforts in the city.

“Depending on what goes in there, this could be a really big deal for the city,” said Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority Exec-utive Director Thomas Szocik. “Developing this property could get people to spend more time downtown, to spend money in the downtown and create a domino for development down Main Street.”

Languishing Development

For the past two years the authority has been looking for a developer to construct a mixed-use commercial and housing facility. One developer was on board, but backed out when the economy tanked. Since then there has been interest, but the dilapidated building in the heart of Fitchburg still sits vacant.

But then came Fitchburg State College, the city’s largest employer.

FSC’s campus sits just a few blocks north of the of the 3-acre property. That site, college president Robert Antonucci said, is the “gateway to the college.”

In late February the college’s fundraising arm, the Fitchburg State College Foundation, purchased the property for $450,000 from a local owner who has owned the site for decades.

Now, the college is planning to tear down the building and help the city manage the future development of what could be a significant economic development opportunity.

A college thrusting themselves into economic development roles is nothing new in Central Massachusetts.

Clark University President John Bassett estimates that in the last 20 years Clark has invested $10 to $12 million in revitalization efforts in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood, leveraging total investments of about $80 million through additional grants and private financing.

But Clark, he said, did it because the college had to.

“It wasn’t just altruism, we did it to survive,” he said.

The neighborhood, Bassett said, was “deteriorating rapidly” in the 1980s.

“If you brought your daughter up to the admissions office you would want her to go to Middlebury [College],” he said.

Purchasing the Main Street land is not Antonucci’s first dip into development efforts in the city.

In the past few years the college has purchased blighted and vacant houses along the corridor leading north to the college’s campus. The college last year built a new campus police station in the neighborhood adjacent to the college.

“As Fitchburg goes, so goes the college,” Antonucci said.

With Fitchburg literally in the college’s name, having a strong, prosperous city will help improve the reputation of the college.

The college has a partner in the development effort too.

Leominster developer Gregg Lisciotti is the chairman of the Fitchburg State College Board of Trustees. He’s also a major developer in the North Worcester County region, including building the 45-acre, 345,000 square-foot Orchard Hill Park, which includes a TGI Friday’s, Kohls, Best Buy, Chili’s and Target.

Lisciotti didn’t look at the move of the foundation purchasing the Main Street land as being philanthropic; it’s important for the college too.

“This is our front door,” he said. “Having a blighted building on Main and North doesn’t serve a positive purpose for anyone.”

Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong welcomes the support from the college.

“When we look at successful redevelopments of college towns across America, Clark University, Ithaca College to name a few, the colleges have each played a major role,” said Wong.

As for the Main Street parcel in Fitchburg actually getting developed, Antonucci said the first step will be tearing down the vacant buildings that currently sit there.

Eventually Antonucci said the college foundation will work with the city to find a private developer who can invest in the site. Atonucci and Wong both said they would like to see a mixed-use site, possibly with some graduate student housing options and commercial business space.

Atonucci said he’d also like to build a Fitchburg State College welcome center at the plot.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled the last name of Clark University President John Bassett. It has been corrected.

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