NEWBURYPORT — After being put on indefinite hold last year, the city’s initial $2.6 million plan to spruce up the Bartlet Mall might get underway two years from now, albeit with a larger price tag, according to city officials.
The revised project would cost an estimated $5.2 million with the city looking to bond for $3.5 million, according to special projects manager Kim Turner.
“There’s positive movement here,” Turner said. “I remain optimistic that we will see this project get the necessary funding.”
The proposal still calls for the encapsulation of the 4-foot-deep Frog Pond with a high-density, polyethylene liner designed to prevent the circulation of subsoil contaminants such as arsenic, lead, chromium and phosphorus, which turned the water green.
The walkway around the pond would be upgraded as a part of the plan.
A dock to allow for paddleboarding would be installed near the water.
Official word of reigniting the Bartlet Mall project came May 12 when Mayor Sean Reardon presented his proposed $90.1 million operating budget for fiscal 2026 to the City Council. At the same time, the mayor also gave the council his five-year capital improvement plan.
Known as the CIP, the capital improvement plan provides an outlook on the city’s anticipated capital spending. It includes any capital project over $50,000 or vehicle/equipment expense over $25,000, and gives reasons why money needs to be spent, along with descriptions of anticipated funding sources.
Coming in third under the CIP’s priorities (just below a potential $839,500 upgrade at City Hall, as well as a $10 million street and sidewalk improvement plan) is the Bartlet Mall historic restoration project. That plan was suspended in February 2024 after bids for the $2.6 million proposal came back far higher than expected.
But by making use of a state grant, as well as charitable and municipal funding, Turner believes she can get the $5.2 million plan up and running between July 2026 and June 2027.
“These grant cycles have a long administrative period,” she said. “So we wouldn’t be putting this back out to bid until fiscal year 2027.”
The initial project would have been covered by a $2.57 million bond that included using $216,000 from the city’s Community Preservation Act (or CPA) fund, which is collected through a 2% property tax surcharge.
In September 2022, the bond request was unanimously approved by the City Council with the release of funding contingent on approval of the final design. That condition was eventually met.
Eleven months later, the project was first put out to bid. But none were received by the late August deadline due to what was considered an overly aggressive schedule with a deadline of June or July. Work was to start in November.
The city then hosted four potential contractors on a tour of the site that December. By Feb. 1, 2024, four bids came in. But when they all were well above the project’s budget, the plan was shelved and the bond released.
The new funding plan would make use of a pending $775,000 grant from the state Land and Water Conservation Fund, according to Turner.
“We applied for that grant last fall,” Turner said. “We should know in the coming weeks whether or not we’ll be awarded it.”
An additional $137,500 would come from a prior grant from the CPA fund, which would also be bonded for an additional $3.5 million. That’s up about $930,000 over the borrowing request last approved.
“This would be just like we did the last time but a larger amount,” Turner said.
Private donations would also play a part.
Turner said $628,700 would come from the Mayor Gayden W. Morrill Charitable Foundation as well as $7,000 from the Newburyport Parks Conservancy.
The city’s Commission on Disabilities has also pledged $5,000, according to Turner. The Morrill Foundation could also kick in an additional $180,000, a year after the first donation is spoken for.
“These are anticipated funding sources,” Turner said. “The first piece of it is to get confirmation from the state that the (Land and Water Conservation) grant would come true. Then that would have to be approved by the City Council for acceptance and the whole standard process.”
If that grant were to be approved, Turner said she would then apply for the CPA money and continue from there.
“About the same time, we would be applying to the Morrill Foundation for the coming year,” she said.
Last Tuesday, Turner presented her new funding plan to the City Council’s Budget and Finance subcommittee.
Ward 5 City Councilor Jim McCauley who was at the hearing has been skeptical of the plan’s price tag all along.
On Thursday, he said the proposal is a nice conceptual project. But he added that the city has more pressing priorities such as bolstering its water system.
“Look, it doesn’t matter if there’s a grant that will pay for most of it,” McCauley said. “Those, as we’ve seen, don’t really cover everything. I would hope we could pivot and look for a less expensive alternative that could get us to the same place.”
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.