Acquisition of Property for Commuter Rail Parking Lot & Access Improvement Project

PRESS RELEASE
Town of Ayer Officially and Legally Acquires Property for Commuter Rail Surface Parking Lot
and Access Improvement Project

AYER - On June 2, 2016 the Town of Ayer officially and legally acquired the Depot Square Access Property and Advocates Building by eminent domain.  The acquisition of the properties by eminent domain was initiated by the Board of Selectmen in April 2016 after over three years of unsuccessful negotiations with the property owner, Worthen Dale LLC.  At the May 9, 2016 Ayer Annual Town Meeting, Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved two Articles authorizing the Board of Selectmen to acquire the property by eminent domain for the purposes of constructing an approximately $4.2 million dollar Ayer Rail Trail Commuter Surface Parking Lot and Access Improvement Project.  At a meeting of the Board of Selectmen on June 1, 2016, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to execute the Order of Takings for the Depot Square Access Property and the Advocates Building.  All of the legally required documents and paperwork were filed with the Middlesex Registry of Deeds on June 2, 2016 making the Town of Ayer the legal owner. 

The acquisition of the property now enables the Town, working with MART and the MBTA, to construct the $4.2 million dollar transportation and infrastructure improvement project.  The projects consists of expanding the existing rail trail parking lot on Park Street from 70 parking space up to 210 parking spaces, as well as pedestrian signalization from the rail trail across Main Street with a dedicated access through Depot Square to the MBTA Commuter Rail Platform.  The project will improve the public access and safety to the commuter rail platform while also improving the amount and quality of parking in Ayer for commuters, residents, and businesses.  The surface parking lot and access corridor will include improved lighting and security, as well as professionally designed streetscape and features. 

In terms of next steps, the Town will be working with MART to hire a design engineering firm to develop conceptual designs and engineering for the project.  The Public will play a role in the design development phase with the Ayer Board of Selectmen ultimately authorizing the final design.  Additionally MART is currently working on the acquisition of three properties on Park Street needed for the project.  In terms of a project completion deadline, it is estimated that the project would be completely by the spring of 2018.  The exact details of the Advocates Building have yet to be worked out but preliminarily and conceptually that property will serve as an enhancement to the access corridor.  For the immediate future, the Town will honor the existing terms of the leases of the fitness center and Advocates which are the two tenants currently in the building.