Had a majority of last year's Salem City Council shared Mayor Kim Driscoll's courage and vision, the city's senior citizens might well be enjoying daytime activities now in a new community center at the former St. Joseph's Church site on Lafayette Street.
But that's not going to happen (a committee established after the council rejected Driscoll's plan is still seeking a site for a new senior center and the means to pay for it); so the planning arm of the Boston Archdiocese that owns the property is negotiating with a major pharmacy chain to help finance the residences it wants to build on the edge of the Point neighborhood. The retail operation would be located on the first floor — where the senior center was supposed to go — and there would be much-needed housing units installed on the upper stories.
Such a mixed-use development represents the next best option for this property which has been looking increasingly rundown since the church closed the former Franco-American parish several years ago. Retail uses on the first floor have an added advantage in that, unlike a community center, they would produce much-needed tax revenue for the city.
The developer has also agreed to help finance the reconstruction of the dangerous intersection where Lafayette, Dow and Washington streets meet across from the church site.
Lucy Corchado, former Ward 1 councilor and now the president of the Point Neighborhood Association, sees the development as an opportunity to bring renewed life to an area that connects the Point with downtown Salem. Let's hope the current council, which must approve a zoning change to make the current development possible, feels the same way.
