A View From Grafton Hill

On August 26, 2016 the Mayor of the City of Worcester walked through the Wall St. neighborhood.  One of the stops on his walk was the empty lot that used to be the El Morocco Restaurant. The lot sits on high ground with a terrific view of the Worcester skyline.

A housing project of 90 units of 1, 2, 3 bedroom apartments is being planned for the now empty lot.

All of the units will be market rates. There will be no affordable housing units. The developer stated that he could not build any affordable housing units under the state program. The longtime director of Friendly House, Gordon Hargrove, felt that some of the units will eventually become Affordable Units.

Mr. Hargrove is working with the Developer to ensure some additional benefit to the neighborhood. He indicated that the project would include upgrades to the Shale St. School playground.

The Mayor and the Developer showed a schematic of the building layout. However the Developer said that the final project would look different than what on the schematic. He did not have a copy of the revisions.

Like Mr. Hargrove the Mayor felt that the housing unit would help the neighborhood and the City.

Rep. Mary Keefe was also on the walk. She has been involved with the Labor Coalition  which advocates for some construction jobs like those for the project go to Worcester residents and people of color

 The streets in the neighbor are narrow as most of the streets on the Eastside of the City were built well over one hundred years ago. There might be some concerns about traffic and parking. For planners one and one-half cars per unit is considered standard.

Another concern express was how many children would live in the project and where they would go to school. An employee at Grafton St. School which only two blocks away, said that the School was at capacity.

She also said that Grafton St. School is the oldest functioning school building in the Worcester District. There are some renovations going on at the School today, including a new boiler, windows, and an elevator for the handicap.

During the walk the City Manager, Edward Augustus, asked a DPW employee how often the storm drains were cleaned on this street as he pointed to a clogged drain. The DPW worker said his department cleans the drains.

The walk ended on an interesting note as stop in a vendor in Worcester that provides props for local movies. Included in props was the Teddy Bear from the movies “Ted” and Ted2”