SALEM — Gov. Deval Patrick stood at the top of a stairway yesterday to formally announce plans to build a $40 million MBTA parking garage in downtown Salem.
From that vantage point at Washington and Bridge streets, the state's chief executive could see the future site of the new garage at the commuter rail station below. If he turned his head just a little, he could also see some of the extensive downtown development that public and private money has fueled over the past decade.
Across the street, work was under way on the massive J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center, which will replace Federal Street courthouses built before the Civil War. Just down the road, a private developer was working on the residential conversion and historic restoration of the 1813 old Salem Jail.
With that in mind, Patrick described the new garage as one more step in an urban transformation.
"This is not a stand-alone project," he said. "It is connected to the plans for the future of downtown Salem and (the city's) future economic development."
Patrick addressed a small sidewalk gathering of business and elected leaders, some of whom have campaigned for years for a parking facility at a train station that fills up early, forcing Boston commuters to park along Bridge Street and in downtown neighborhoods.
Mayor Kim Driscoll and the Salem Partnership, a local business lobby, have pushed hard in recent months to take advantage of available state funding and to try to get the facility built around the time the new courthouse opens in 2011. The garage, they said, is an important piece in these plans.
"For a lot of reasons, it's all coming together at the same time," said state Rep. John Keenan. "The stars have aligned."
Congressman John Tierney, a lawyer and former president of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, told the governor how long the city has waited for this news. "I can remember being at the Chamber of Commerce 15 years ago and talking about this. ... Nobody has given up."
Patricia Zaido, executive director of the Salem Partnership, was one of many to shake the governor's hand.
"Thank you so much," said Zaido, who stood in the cold at the station last winter collecting signatures for a new garage. "This is something we've been working on for 20 years."
Patrick, who has close ties with Driscoll, also tossed a bouquet the mayor's way. Asked about the decision to build a Salem garage after already announcing plans for a new MBTA garage in Beverly, the governor said: "A lot of it is confidence in the leadership here ..."
The garage is being built, in part, as mitigation for the Big Dig and to boost public transportation by creating 1,000 new parking spaces at state commuter rail stations by 2011. It will be funded by a combination of federal, state and city funds.
The 750-900 space garage will be built on the MBTA's portion of the commuter rail lot, which has 344 spaces. Driscoll said she hopes to do a mixed-use development, possibly offices and parking, on the city's section of the lot. Salem has 123 spaces next to Bridge Street.
The MBTA is hosting a public meeting at 7 tonight at the Carlton School on the "conceptual design" for the new garage.
Downtown Development
2003: Peabody Essex Museum expansion
2004: Salem Waterfront Hotel
2005: Old Police Station (condos)
2006: Derby Lofts (condos)
2008: Bypass Road
2009: Salem Evening News (retail, apartments)
2010: Old Salem Jail (apartments, restaurant)
2011: J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center
2011?: MBTA Garage
