One City, Two Conferences
Posted on Wednesday, April 2 2008 by Heather Brandon
Two major events are happening back-to-back in Springfield this week, including the city’s free conference for developers on Thursday, April 3, followed by its not-free Green City Forum on Friday, April 4.
With both events happening one day after the other, I wondered if they would be billed together in any way—they don’t appear to be—or if some attendees might try to attend both. It’s an opportunity to drum up a little extra attention for the city in the downtown area, connecting the riverfront and the downtown, especially in the wake of the NCAA men’s Division II basketball tournament last week at the MassMutual Center.
Registrants for the developers’ conference are being granted a free day-pass to the Basketball Hall of Fame, where the conference is also taking place. But there’s no mention on the Web site of the next day’s forum at CityStage just a few blocks away, which apparently is intended to draw a different kind of audience. The two events may as well be happening in separate cities.
The purpose of the developers’ conference, which is co-sponsored by the city, MassDevelopment, and PVTA as well as the Hall of Fame, appears to be a kind of hard sell. The sustainability forum, in contrast, seems to have a decidedly academic, almost abstract bent, and is more regional in focus. Although focus is the wrong word, for the forum appears to lack purpose, and its planned speakers will address too many disconnected topics.
Regarding the highly-focused developers’ conference, Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a prepared statement earlier today, “This event will show off all of the reasons why Springfield is a premier location for business and development.” After hearing from a series of speakers, attendees will get a city tour, highlighting the 3.3-acre, on-the-riverfront demolished York Street jail site, the Sovereign Bank building downtown offering prime office space, and the 85-acre Smith & Wesson Industrial Park in East Springfield.
These sites are some of the hot available properties in Springfield, to the extent that the real estate market has heat. Preparation for the conference has been rooted in the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development.
On the other hand, Spirit of Springfield has been handling preparations for the Green City Forum, which is co-sponsored by the city, Congressman Richard Neal, WNEC, UMass, and the US Forest Service. It will “highlight green space protection and enhancement, as well as sustainable building techniques.” The event is less focused on Springfield, specifically, but offers a kind of think tank environment, reflection on some best practices, and a speech from Neal about Springfield’s “historic green space legacy.”
Of greater interest, in my view, would be a conference about how people can actually do some stuff to make their city a more sustainable place to live, like the practice of disconnecting gutter downspouts from the city’s sewer system and plugging them instead into rain barrels or plant beds—a trend that is catching on in a number of cities. Or ways the city can spend a few thousand dollars and create plant-filled swales on the curbs in some residential areas, instituting a kind of adopt-a-swale program, to slow traffic as well as catch more water and have more plants helping to clean the air. Are these practices too technical for a conference?
From the event description:
The goal of the symposium is to inform municipal planners and department managers (facilities, forestry, water/sewer, conservation), landscape architects, and students in the northeast cities and towns about positive steps that can be taken to help create a municipality that is engaged in the most environmentally friendly practices related to planning, construction and sustainability.
It’s a good foundation, but the speakers are all addressing the macro level, which seems inaccessible and much too broad considering that it’s generally preaching to the choir. People interested in green city practices already know why such efforts matter; the key issue now is to figure out what we’re going to do about it, and whether there are other cities making similar attempts. A better plan would be to look at the macro level to the extent necessary, but also offer some nitty-gritty to help illustrate what the macro level means when certain policies are implemented in practice—inevitably different from place to place, depending on context and the people doing it.
Few, if any, cities in New England are as far ahead in such endeavors as are cities in other regions, and there could be much to learn and discuss if all this effort is going to be put forth to have a conference and bring together a bunch of wonks. Where is the energy of the residents, and why aren’t they being tapped to look at specific examples of greening the city, which is indeed multifaceted?
Below is the city’s press release today in anticipation of the developers’ conference, followed by detailed information for the Green City Forum. Registration deadlines for both events have already passed.
SPRINGFIELD DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE SLATED FOR THURSDAY
The City of Springfield and MassDevelopment will host a Springfield Developer’s Conference on Thursday, April 3, 8:30 am, at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 1000 West Columbus Avenue, Springfield. The event will attract developers, site selectors, and business representatives from across the region to learn more about Springfield and to tour several development sites.
“This is another signal that the doors are open for business in the City of Springfield,” said Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. “This event will show off all of the reasons why Springfield is a premier location for business and development. We’re thrilled to be joining one of our key economic development partners, MassDevelopment, in hosting this program.”
With the recent opening of Onyx Restaurant as part of the $14 million River’s Landing project, the announcement of Liberty Mutual opening a Springfield office with up to 300 new jobs, the strong group of developers vying for the Court Square redevelopment opportunity, and the recent news of $45 million retail development planned in East Springfield, the city has seen a hotbed of interest from the private development community.
“It really speaks to the attributes we have here in Springfield,” said Sarno. “From the highway access in any direction, the easy access to Bradley International Airport, the first class colleges and health care, the infrastructure and water we have, and the talented workforce and great neighborhoods, Springfield really has it all.”
The speaking program will include remarks from Mayor Sarno, and Robert L. Culver, president & CEO of MassDevelopment, followed by remarks from Allan Blair of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, and David Panagore, Springfield’s chief development officer. Participants will tour priority development sites throughout the City by bus. Key sites include:
York Street Jail site, a 3.3-acre parcel along the Connecticut River, once home to the Hampden County House of Corrections; Sovereign Bank Building, 78,000-square-feet of Class A office space in downtown Springfield; Springfield Smith & Wesson Industrial Park, an 85-acre pad-ready development parcel in East Springfield.
“This conference represents another milestone in Springfield’s ongoing economic turn-around,” said Robert L. Culver, MassDevelopment president/CEO. “Dozens of private sector developers, bankers and planners will witness how efforts to attract, retain and grow businesses and revitalize underutilized parcels of land are starting to pay off.”
Registration will begin at 8:30 am and the program begins at 9 am, with the tour to follow the speaking program. The event will wrap up by noon, and is also sponsored by the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority.
SPRINGFIELD GREEN CITY FORUM
MC: Richard Sullivan, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Welcome by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno
“Why Green Cities?” Dr. David Nowak, Syracuse, NY Urban Forester, U.S. Forest Service
Dr. Nowak is the Project Leader of a research unit of the US Forest Service Northeastern Research Station and is a recipient of the American Forests Urban Forest Medal recognizing outstanding national contributions in urban forest research and the Distinguished Science Award of the US Forest Service.
“Green Schools: Atrributes to Healthy Living,” Mr. Paul Fisette, Professor and Department Head of Natural Resources, Conservation, UMass-Amherst
Mr. Fisette serves on the National Academy of Sciences Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. He is also Department Head for the UMass Department of Natural Resources Conservation.
“A Historic Perspective of Springfield’s Green Space Legacy,” Rep. Richard Neal, U.S. House of Representatives, Massachusetts Second Congressional District
Congressman Neal will present an overview of the history of green space preservation and protection in the City of Springfield including examples of visionary planning and environmental leadership. Congressman Neal served as Springfield’s Mayor from 1984 -1989, and was elected to Congress in 1988.
“Greening and Environmental Law,” Jamison E. Colburn, J.S.D., Professor of Law
WNEC School of Law
Mr. Colburn has served the Environmental Protection Agency as an enforcement litigator. He currently teaches environmental law and policy at Western New England College and is on the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut River Watershed Council.
“Renaissance of the American Industrial City,” Dr. John Mullin, Director of the Center for Economic Development and Dean of the Graduate School, UMass
Dr. Mullin currently serves as the Dean of the Graduate School, Director of the Center for Economic Development, and a Professor in the Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Department at the University of Massachusetts.
