OPINION – The downtown fence is gone. Did you notice?
Plack Place has been the subject of several Times Independent stories and letters. The focus has been on facts. The development, originally approved in 2016, seemingly stalled since late 2018, but featured negotiations, lawsuits and promises made – but not kept. Comments about the unfinished concrete appearance of Park Place 1, fencing stretching along much of The Avenue of the Fountains, storage buildings and construction vehicles, symbolic fights with the IDSDC, all spanning the tenure of three mayors, starting with Kavanagh, then Dickey and now Friedel. One name is a constant, the initial developer of the Park Place project, Bart Shea.
In January 2025, I thought there was light at the end of the tunnel. Mayor Friedel proclaimed a shovel in the ground by “mid- to late Spring,” (2025) ... according to his State of the Town address. Since then – more nothing.
