Revitalizing Main Street Buzzards Bay
by Joseph SantangeloBuilding by building, block by block, Main Street in the village of Buzzards Bay in Bourne is starting to revive.
New this year are the reopened Buzzards Bay Theater, Flip Flops Café and Gift Shop and other businesses emerging amid new and refurbished professional buildings, retail stores, banks and motels.
As part of smart growth development, residential apartments also are appearing where people will live in town year-round on second floors above stores and other commercial facilities.
A new CVS Pharmacy, the first national corporate investment in many years, is another tangible step toward Main Street becoming a visible and viable downtown.
Some businesses come for the potential of a village on the rebound, a million visitors to the Cape Cod Canal or the sailing on scenic Buzzards Bay. Others are attracted by available street-front retail space that they could not find in Falmouth or other nearby towns. Still others come almost by accident and find the town friendly and welcoming to new business. Locating near the Cape Cod Canal and historic railroad bridge adds to the attraction.
Typical business reaction is, “It’s wonderful. Working with the town is fantastic. It’s a friendly town hall. It’s the best place to do business”
Town and state government, the Bourne Financial Development Corporation, the Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association, the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce, the Cape Cod Commission and dozens of other civic and business organizations have been collaborating to attract business, shoppers and investment back to Main Street.
Anchored by new and refurbished public and nonprofit institutions, businesses are gradually coming to Buzzards Bay. These anchors that are bringing foot traffic, or feet on the street, include the impressive new Bourne Veterans Community Building that houses activities for seniors and the recreation department serving all ages.
Other downtown anchors that draw people who are likely to shop, buy coffee and lunch or seek professional or home services include the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Buzzards Bay Railroad Station Visitors Center and Chamber of Commerce Office, the police station, fire station, Bourne Town Hall on Perry Avenue, the National Marine Life Center and the Cape Cod Canal itself.
“We have an attraction that that a lot of downtowns don’t have – the Cape Cod Canal, with 14 miles of walking trails and acres of open space,” said Marie Oliva, executive director of the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce. “How may downtowns have that?”
“It doesn’t just have to be retail development,” added Oliva. “It could also be professional offices with apartments above and some light technology related industry as well.”
Once the gateway to Cape Cod, and one of many villages in the town of Bourne, Buzzards Bay was circumvented first by the Route 6 Buzzards Bay Bypass and more recently by construction of Interstate Routes 495 and Massachusetts Route 25 delivering traffic straight through to the Bourne Bridge. A drastic decline in the number of military personnel at the Massachusetts Military Reservation also has hurt the village.
Now, various groups are working to lure many of the 40 million cars that pass by every year off the highway to see that Bourne and Buzzards Bay village in particular are great places to live, work, visit, play and retire.
John Harding, president of the Bourne Financial Development Corporation, said, “This is the first time everybody is talking about what we can do, as opposed to what we can’t do.”
Among first tangible steps, a pathway is under construction to a new Cape Cod Canal visitors overlook, Three Mile Look, at Perry Avenue Park on the north side of the canal. This will be the first phase of a Greenbelt Pathway through town.
When completed, the Greenbelt Pathway will provide an opportunity for residents and visitors to walk a historic trail overlooking the scenic Cape Cod Canal, picnic at Bourne Pond and adjacent Veteran's Park, stroll local beaches, bike throughout Buzzards Bay and visit various culturally and historically significant local landmarks.
Students from Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School landscaping program also have worked at Bourne Pond, part of the pathway system, to cut back invasive vegetation and plant new landscape vegetation. Other volunteers included members of the Cape branch of AmeriCorps, the Aptucxet Garden Club, inmates from the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office, students from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Bourne town employees and Buzzards Bay businesspeople.
Long term, the Bourne Financial Development Corporation is spearheading several marketing, wastewater and transportation studies to identify the best reuses of Buzzards Bay village.
Harding said, “There are a lot more issues to overcome to really revitalize Buzzards Bay. We’re building in a flood zone. To attract really serious money, we need to rezone. We need to build a new sewage treatment system. It’s a long-term process as well as a short-term process.”
The Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association is a local grassroots organization working along with numerous other civic and government groups. The association conducted an International Architectural Design Competition to seek out the best landscape architects’ views on how to redesign Bourne Town Park into “Bridge Park” as a linchpin destination attraction. Some 158 submissions were received, many from foreign nations including a half dozen from the Middle East.
Tom Moccia, association president, said, “Our mission is to restore vitality and visibility to our Main Street and to create a recreational, commercial and historical environment that will encourage visitors, residents and most importantly investors to come to our town. The Greenbelt Pathway is a regionally significant project with the potential to improve recreation, tourism and the economy. The project is a multi-phased venture to develop a unique recreational trail system utilizing historic landmarks and open space in the town of Bourne.”
“The association believes that the rehabilitating Main Street/Buzzards Bay has regional implications and benefits beyond new local building investments, building upkeep, job creation, increased tax bases, tourism expansion and walkways and direct open access to the Cape Cod Canal.”
Also of note, demolition of the vacant Quintal's restaurant on Scenic Highway, just off Main Street, has taken place. It will be replaced by a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop. A new combination office building and top-of-shop housing is near completion on Cohasset Avenue, as are eight units of rehabilitated housing just off the bypass.
The association also has commissioned a traffic study on how best to travel to, within and out of Buzzards Bay. It calls for a number of transportation innovations and restoring some traditional modes such as rail service to the area, expanding intra- and inter-town bus service and some reconfiguration of streets and highways that influence driving decisions in Buzzards Bay.
“The BBVA’s transportation study is an example of the collaboration between organizations – its recommendations will become part of a comprehensive redevelopment plan that the Bourne Financial Development Corporation is working toward,” notes Sallie Riggs, BFDC executive director. “Thanks to some state funding, we’re preparing the stage for more progress.”
Over the past three years, the town of Bourne has issued building permits in excess of $6 million for new construction and building alterations and additions along Main Street in Buzzards Bay. Actual construction or improvement costs are often much higher than permitting estimates. The new 24/7 veterinarian hospital at Belmont Circle is estimated to cost $2.5 million.
There are stills struggles ahead, however. The Buzzards Bay Theater, which owner Jeff Avery opened in April after much fundraising and renovating, may be forced to close due to lack of business. At press time, Avery was hoping to raise the funds to continue operating the theater, which offered a movie, popcorn and soda for $7.50, but said that his original estimations of the number of customers had proven overly generous. He cited lack of foot traffic in the village as the contributing factor.
Published in Cape Business Sept/Oct 2007
Joseph Santangelo Joseph Santangelo has been a statehouse bureau chief, a corporate executive and currently works for the Connecticut Legislature. 
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