boston.com - Local leaders Seek Quincy Center Support

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By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Street-Works staff and area politicians met numerous federal officials privately last week in an effort to widen support for the revitalization of Quincy Center.

"The main impetus for this meeting was to bring the federal agencies to the table at one time with the Massachusetts delegation from Congress to discuss existing programs in place that can be applicable to some of the existing infrastructure," said Ken Narva, a managing partner with Street-Works, the project's developer.

Narva stood in a room with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, and the Adams National Historic Park, hopeful that the revitalization would not overrun, but add to the city as it stands today.

As such, politicians and Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch asked for their support in the $100 million the city will need to raise as part of the $1.6 billion venture.

"We wanted to bring the parties together to participate," Koch said. "Not [to give us] a handout, but to partake in the project … as this sets the sage for the city for the next 100 years."

US Representative William Keating called the project "an investment, not just an expenditure of money," and suggested that the agencies could only benefit from the project.

Whether through tourism, transportation, or housing, "this is going to bring money in," Keating said.

US Senator Scott Brown also attended the meeting at Street-Works headquarters in Quincy Center, but left before reporters were allowed in.

As politicians and state department heads stood around the miniature replica of the city, in an office that looked out to the life-sized version, Narva spelled out the progress.

The plan is for the first vertical construction in 2013. Already, the city is working on preliminary infrastructure improvements -- the Town Brook relocation, Adams Green construction, and Cliveden Bridge Extension - that will set the stage for such construction.

Adding to the project is hopes that the state will help rehabilitate the MBTA Quincy Center station, as the train will become the focus of the transportation piece of the city, Koch said.

According to Narva, project officials are looking for transit grants for the downtown as well.

In upcoming months, the T will play an increasingly important role to the project, Narva said.

"Lets face it, without the T, [Street-Works] wouldn't be here," Narva said.

In addition to accruing money for construction, Quincy officials are working on obtaining grant money for the $50 million in infrastructure work.

According to Quincy officials, the city is looking to the I-cubed grant for some money for that work. The city will be notified if they have passed the first round for that grant sometime in the next week.

Regardless of the work to be done or money to be accumulated, City Planner Dennis Harrington summarized the momentum best.

"This is not a plan that will go on the shelf," he said. "This is for real."

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