Ward 3 Neighborhood Association supports the Three County Fairgrounds

December 11, 2008

To:
Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund Grant Program
Massachusetts Cultural Council
10 St. James Avenue, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02116-3803

Dear Review Panel and Advisory Committee:

The Board of Directors of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association wishes to express its support for the Cultural Facilities Fund Grant Application submitted by the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton.

The Ward 3 Neighborhood Association is a civic group that encourages quality of life efforts on behalf of our residents and businesses. The Fairgrounds and its environs are part of Ward 3 and many of our directors and members have been appointed to committees that have been kept informed about progress and the general direction of the Fairground’s future plans.

The Fairgrounds leadership holds regular meeting with neighbors to discuss issues of mutual concern. As neighbors, we wish to see this facility succeed, as such events as the Morgan Horse Show and the Paradise City Arts Festival, as well as the annual fair itself, are of great importance to our city’s cultural and economic vitality.

At the several meetings held with neighbors over the past three years, there has been strong consensus that the proposed reuse plan for the Fairgrounds is a good plan and one worthy of support.

It is our wish to see the Fairgrounds retain its character, preserve considerable open space, and refurbish its many historic buildings. We also support undertaking traffic studies to find the least intrusive way to direct traffic into and out of the facility without disrupting the surrounding neighborhoods as the number of cultural and economic development-oriented events at the Fairgrounds increases. We are also supportive of efforts to improve drainage that affects both the Fairgrounds and its surrounding neighborhoods.

We hope you will look favorably upon this application and provide assistance that will help chart a future for the Fairgrounds that will be of great benefit to our neighborhoods, community and region.

Sincerely,

For the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association Board of Directors
Gerald S. Budgar
President