On Tuesday night, the Burlington City Council gave its blessing to a plan to redesign the Moran building, the most significant progress toward remodeling the old coal-fired power plant since it was decommissioned in 1986.
The unanimous vote gave Mayor Miro Weinberger’s administration permission to move forward with the project and to borrow the cash to fund it. The plan, which the city’s Community Economic Development Office presented in December, proposes filling in the basement of the old structure and removing the brick exterior.
It would leave in place a steel skeleton. The open-air space would include public restrooms and space for vendors and concerts. Additional walkways, public art, a performance venue, a viewing deck or outdoor areas could also be added to the project in the future, pending additional funding.
The plan would cost $5.6 million; the city already has $2 million in hand from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The remaining $3.6 million in tax-increment financing must be borrowed by the end of this year. Otherwise, about 70 percent of that cash must be returned to the State of Vermont, according to Weinberger.
CEDO hopes to get consultants for the project by this spring and then secure the necessary permits before borrowing the money. At the Tuesday meeting, city officials urged the council not to delay.
“The timeframe is very short. I don’t want to sugarcoat that,” said Kirsten Merriman-Shapiro, a senior projects and policy specialist for CEDO. “Every day counts.”
The frame project is the latest in a series of Moran redesign proposals that have been considered over the past three decades. But the cost of soil remediation and demolishing the building have previously posed insurmountable barriers.
In 2014, Burlingtonians approved tax-increment financing to redevelop Moran. The cash was meant to fund a project by a group called New Moran, which wanted to create a multiuse facility for the Burlington Farmers Market, events and performances, along with an outdoor ice rink.
With the latest project proposal, some councilors expressed concerns about whether the city would stay within the allocated budget. In the end, they all wholeheartedly voiced support for the plan.
“I can’t think of a project that has garnered as much enthusiasm as this has right out of the gate,” Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) said.
Councilor Ali Dieng (D/P-Ward 7) called it a “wonderful project.” But he acknowledged it’s been a long time coming. “The community needs closure,” he added.
There’s no guarantee that if the city moves forward with the first phase of the project that it would continue with the supplementary components.
“Where’s the money coming from” for additional amenities or enhancements? Councilor Dave Hartnett (D-North District) asked rhetorically. “I want to be candid with the taxpayers — there is no answer for that.”
But, he added, it’s worth getting started: “It’d be crazy not to move forward with Phase 1.”
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I like the concept of leaving the steel structure in place. It creates an immense sculpture that can be viewed as a tribute to United Statesian labor and all the hard work Americans have done as a community.
Bravo. It is a perfect design for a city that all too often has that tear-it-down mentality. This was a lifesaver of a building , back in it’s day, and as Rama’s comment above- a nice compromise to past designs. We don’t need another skateboard park on the waterfront. And yes, the name might be familiar to this poster.
Yet another taxpayer-financed disaster at the hands of Miro and the elected officials who can’t say no to raising taxes.
For a steel skeleton – which is a perfectly apt description for what will look like a half-finished building.
Which, by the way, is exactly what it will be.
And it’ll cost only $6 million in OUR money!
But Miro and councilors apparently have no problems paying their skyrocketing taxes.
It gets better …
Hartnett, a councilor who has mysteriously decided against seeking re-election, said he had to be “honest” with taxpayers – he has no clue where the money is coming from.
Then, the all-time irony: Hartnett said it would be crazy not to go ahead with a project for which he had just “honestly” lamented the lack of money.
Now, THAT’S a classic.
Or actually, typical for Hartnett and his colleagues.
Why . . it’s ART!!! . . .cough . . cough. How vibrant!!
Spend the money on this instead of the new City Hall Park – just fix the old park up and use the leftover MILLIONS to pay for this…gosh these people know how to spend…our money. More is more, eh? Is a private company going to own this one? [PS – vote no on #4]
Artistically, it is pleasing. On the other hand it is going to be a magnet for teens and others to climb on, jump off, etc. even with the best of intentions it holds many dangers.
April 27, 2014 (Valley News):
If the project gets off the ground, theres $6.3 million of city money available to help with the redevelopment. If it doesnt happen, the city will use its money to demolish the plant. This is the last chance, said Weinberger. If it cant get done this time, it never will.
Sept. 1, 2017 (Burlington Free Press):
“We are done trying to achieve what the city’s goal has been for the last 30 years,” Weinberger said.
March 27, 2014 (Williston Observer):
The project will either work, or it wont work. It will either be demolished completely, the project will go through, or nothing will happen at all. (quote from Nathan Wildfire, Burlingtons Assistant Director of Economic Development)
Feb. 12, 2014 (Seven Days):
The mayor’s decision to make demolition the automatic Plan B ties the plant’s fate to one particular proposal in a way that’s never been done before.
“Spend the money on this instead of the new City Hall Park”
You say that now, but after 8 years of public meetings you’ll eventually protest this as well. That’s what you do.
And as for your critique of city spending, it’s perfectly fine when Prog administrations do it, just not when any other administrations do it. Like $16.9 million in secret spending on Burlington Telecom under Mayor Bup-Kiss
A couple of thoughts and questions:
If TIF financing is how this is going to be done? How does this plan increase the property values to pay for the debt on this? Its all very good that there will be a snack bar but taxes from that wont be nearly enough to warrant a seven figure outlay.
I am happy with it being open public space but maintenance of the area is only going to be an ongoing cost. So doesnt that incentivize more private businesses going in there at some later date? Didnt the mayor say something about tearing it down end of story if the Old New Moran didnt work? Is this his sly way of keeping the option to more fully privatize the space at some future time; which if his own history of support for development of the space is any indication, thats what he wanted all along??
Again I reiterate… I am happy if this is going to be a nice place that is open and accessible to the public where you can get a burger at a snack bar and tourists can ooh and ahh at the scenery and have somewhere to take a dump. But my concern is that at some point, what with the new sailing center and private marina, someone eventually is going to ask Only paying customers please, do you have a reservation?
Privately Owned Public Space is a real danger for communities.
Burlington has a mayor that has a penchant for commerically activiating public spaces to make everything and everywhere vibrant.
I will reiterate. I am not against this plan. Just worried that first a snack bar, next all manner of commercial ventures which preclude the public from enjoying the space without the need of a big wad of cash
The “picture” heading this article is a dream – strolling in the hot sun, lovely view, no trees, happy people. Somewhere out of view are restrooms, parked cars, concessions – it’s the picture of a perfect day. But – this area used to have hundreds of lovely trees – yes, the area it depicts – they surrounded this unsightly building, and were all removed for the bikepath several years ago. The ground, in the “picture,” is flat as paper., and if the folks were any older, they’d want benches lining the walkway. It’s a designer’s design, and what appears in that space will be different in reality. The ground will stay perfectly flat for about a year. Oh yes – those trees in the background, no doubt newly planted? Their stage of growth indicates that they have grown over the course of years (new trees are not this tall or bushy), so all these folks are now in Elementary School. This is a photo of 2030 (if the plan’s on schedule).
“And as for your critique of city spending, it’s perfectly fine when Prog administrations do it, just not when any other administrations do it. Like $16.9 million in secret spending on Burlington Telecom under Mayor Bup-Kiss”
To be sure this revisionist history is dispelled, there was no “secret spending” on BT. The Board of Finance was involved and all money was accounted for as building an investment that 2/3rds of the city voted to approve. BT’s CPG also granted explicit permission for the funding mechanisms involved. Two subsequent investigations (1 state, 1 federal) AND 1 civil suit all failed to find any evidence of this “secret spending”.
But who are they to question a reliable editorialist on bulletin boards?