Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who was also in on the initial planning as a member of the City Council and finalized project details as mayor, said, "The citizens of Lynn, for the first time in 50 years, will be able to use this area to live, shop, eat and relax along a beautiful expanse of ocean."
Among those Kennedy credited was her predecessor, Clancy, "for getting the ball rolling and moving this project along." Clancy did not attend the ceremony.
Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, who helped secure a $2.5 million state grant to support the project, said, "What this means for the city of Lynn is transformative - to be able to take 100 acres of underutilized property with a view like this on a day like today and imagine the significant private investment this will lead to, hopefully to create jobs here in Lynn and the commonwealth.
"There is not a lack of interest of companies indigenous to Massachusetts and outside that want to grow and expand here because we have a workforce that is unparalleled," Murray said. "What we have not had is an inventory of pre-permitted, pad-ready sites."
The power lines relocation, he said, will ideally help build that inventory.
State Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki called the power lines project "an ideal example" of state, municipal and private partnership.
Phelan, the City Council president, commended his colleagues for their work over nine separate public hearings on the project.
"The Council voted and bonded $4 million when there was a lot of pressure on us from many in the community, in difficult economic times, telling us we needed the money for other things. But we realized that the potential for the expansion of the commercial tax base in the Lynn and the analysis we did from a financial perspective made it a no-brainer that this project would pay for itself over a period of time.
"This is a mistake our forefathers made 50 years ago, and it is being corrected today with the help of everybody here."
Phelan warned however that as much if not more work will be required to find and encourage suitable waterfront development.
"This is just the beginning. If we move the power lines and have no development, then what we've done really is not a benefit to the city," Phelan said.
State Sen. McGee said, "I think of the cars that speed by here each day with no idea what's behind these buildings," referring to Merchandise Mart, Wal-Mart and other businesses on the Lynnway's northbound side that hide the coastline. "We've worked very hard on this over several years, with National Grid, with GE, with landowners surrounding these sites, and everybody who had a part should be very proud of the opportunity we're creating."
Walsh, considered by many to have been a leading force for the relocation project, said the first call he made within hours of taking office in January 2003 was to National Grid to find out what it would take to relocate the power lines. Walsh commended National Grid as well as the Patrick Administration for its commitment not only to this project but also for the initial $1 million investment toward a future Lynn ferry, for the planned new Nahant Causeway and for the new bathhouse on Nahant's Long Beach.
"We have something here that no other community in the commonwealth has," Walsh said. "Quincy can try with Marina Bay, but we have something better, from the woods to the waterfront, a three-mile stretch that nobody else has."
Ellen Smith, chief operating officer for National Grid, called the power lines project "an enormous milestone" and "an enormous undertaking."
Smith said, "This is a major transmission corridor that many years ago took a lot to build and it's going to take a lot to move. There have been no less than 15 major studies on this corridor and from almost the first day it was built, this corridor was looked at in terms of what it should have been."
Smith said there will likely be "speed bumps" that hinder the project, but assured, "National Grid is in it for the long haul to make this project a success for the city of Lynn." |
