BRATTLEBORO — We, the members of the Brooks House Development Team, shared our vision and passion for Brattleboro's downtown at the April 20 Development Review Board meeting, where we discussed the continuing transformation of the space behind the Brooks House into a pedestrian-friendly commercial space in the spirit of Burlington's Church Street.
Our park will serve as a college green for Vermont Technical College and Community College of Vermont and as a quiet outdoor oasis for all visitors to Brattleboro's otherwise-bustling downtown.
Requiring that vehicles be allowed to cut through the heart of our park will significantly reduce the beauty of that space, and it will imperil the safety of all pedestrians, especially students visiting VTC, CCV, and Oak Meadow, a K-12 school.
We are also looking forward to correcting some misinformation regarding the use of the tunnel for vehicular traffic.
When the Brooks House Development Team approached the town in 2012 as we were putting together our redevelopment plan, the town chose to terminate its lease of the tunnel.
As a result, our first application to the DRB did not include any vehicular traffic. We modified our initial application to open the tunnel to vehicular traffic based upon the request of anchor tenants.
Our tenants have since acknowledged that the space is much better and safer without cars whizzing by their front doors.
Finally, we are looking forward to discussing internal access and circulation issues with the DRB. Access needs for our tenants and visitors are very modest and easily met by accessing Harmony Lot via Elliot Street.
The Brooks House Development Team is dedicated to the success of downtown Brattleboro.
We believe that building a beautiful pedestrian-friendly park is better for Brattleboro than restoring vehicular traffic to bypass downtown. We have always believed that the Brooks House property should be designed for people, not cars.