Residents encouraged to share hopes for Wareham Village in redevelopment discussion
Apr 7, 2022
Emily Innes presents past findings of studies on Wareham Village, including how far future flooding could encroach on Merchants Way.
The town is asking residents to share their questions and hopes for the future of Wareham Village in a public discussion next week.
The Wareham Redevelopment Authority will host a meeting at 7 p.m. on April 14 at the Town Hall Auditorium, 54 Marion Road, open to anyone interested in the redevelopment of downtown Wareham. A flyer describing the event notes that the night will include discussion of Wareham Village’s strengths and how climate change will affect the planning of downtown redevelopment.
A citizen’s advisory committee met with Emily Innes of the consulting firm Innes Associates Ltd. on Wednesday night to discuss the process of the town’s urban renewal plan.
The meeting didn’t dwell on specifics of what Wareham’s downtown will look like in the coming decades, but members heard from Innes about how the general planning process works and the possibilities for the Village. Innes also gave a recap of much of the past work that’s gone into studying downtown already, from past slum and blight studies to master plans to land-use studies.
“You’ve actually done a lot of the background work already’’ in laying out the urban renewal plan timeline, which would be from about January to September, Innes said. “There’s been a lot of visioning around Wareham Village already.”
An urban renewal plan requires both local and state approval, Innes said, so at the end of the planning process, the plan will be submitted to the Department of Housing & Community Development for approval.
As Innes presented the findings of past studies, committee members raised questions that they said residents may want to consider as they brainstorm the future of Wareham Village.
How will sea level rise affect Merchants Way? How can young people be attracted to downtown, especially the workers from Tobey Hospital? What does Wareham Village have that residents want more of, and what is missing from downtown that residents want to see?
One member called Wareham “the next Cape” for visitors who don’t want to traverse Bourne Bridge and deal with summer traffic.
