Downtown Turners Falls Rapid Recovery Plan

The Town of Montague has developed a Local Rapid Recovery Plan for Downtown Turners Falls. The plan is supported by MA Department of Housing & Community Development’s (DHCD)'s Local Rapid Recovery Planning Program that was created to help communities recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plan Objectives:

• A set of actionable projects that reflect COVID-19 recovery needs, community priorities, available resources and incentives, and the capacity to implement at the local level
• Primary data that can be used by town officials to measure COVID-19 impacts on the local business community

Linked Documents:

• Final Local Rapid Recovery Plan, Dated October 2021
• Recorded PB Presentation of Draft Local Rapid Recovery Plan, Dated September 28, 2021. Use passcode 264159 to access the recording
• Business Survey Results Report, Dated April 2021
• Local Rapid Recovery Planning Presentation Slides, Presented June 2021

Project Recommendations:

• Develop installation plans for multimodal wayfinding & branding signage in downtown Turners Falls
• Implement policies and practices to optimize the use and availability of downtown parking
• Build out Town Hall Annex into a multi-purpose space for media and the arts
• Connect downtown to Connecticut River via Great Falls River Access Area
• Advance master planning and redevelopment for Canal District
• Implement high-visibility art and placemaking projects
• Secure a business development coordinator to support business opportunities in Turners Falls
• Boost the administrative capacity of RiverCulture to support arts/culture programming and creative economy
• Accelerate downtown streetscape improvements
• Peskeomskut Park Bandshell improvements
• Advance infill and redevelopment opportunities for municipally-owned properties
• Develop design/zoning guidelines for downtown Turners Falls