Article found in the Smith College Sophian 4/16/09

Ford Hall Construction Creates Conflict with Green Street Cafe

Clare Lynch
Issue date: 4/16/09

Controversy over the construction of the new Ford Hall engineering building on Green Street was highlighted last month when the owners of the Green Street Cafe filed a lawsuit seeking to halt construction that would block access to the cafe. On April 3, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that Judge Peter Veilis ruled in favor of Smith College, allowing construction to resume on April 6.

This latest conflict over the Ford Hall construction project shows the difficulty of balancing the college's expansion interests with those of the local community and businesses.

Laurie Fenlason, executive director of Public Affairs and College Relations, characterizes the Ford Hall construction as "a straightforward project" that "will result in significant improvements not only for Smith, but for the Cafe." Fenlason said the project "has been needlessly protracted and complicated" by the lawsuit.

John Sielski, who owns Green Street Cafe with James Dozmati, said they have been "ruined, both personally and financially" by the construction project. Sielski said Smith's actions in pursuing the Ford Hall construction are the latest in a series of actions that have "damaged [the cafe] beyond repair" and left him feeling "betrayed" after a long-time partnership with the college.

The lawsuit filed by Sielski and Dozmati specifically addressed parking and access to the cafe. Construction closed off portions of Arnold Street and shut down the parking lot behind the cafe, where the restaurant used to offer outdoor lunch service.

Judge Veilis ruled that while the cafe had sustained damage from the construction, the damage to Smith from halting the construction project would be more consequential.

As a replacement for the cafe's 16-space parking lot that has been closed, Smith has reserved 16 spaces for cafe workers and customers in the Dickinson parking lot directly across the street. Smith lots and the parking garage near the cafe are also open to the public after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day during the weekend, Fenlason noted.

In a letter to the editor published on February 20 in the Gazette, Fenlason wrote, "The college also made voluntary improvements to the [cafe] building to mitigate noise and dust impacts, allowing the cafe to continue to offer a comfortable dining experience."

However, the cafe's business has still suffered, according to Sielski. He estimates that lunch business decreased 75 percent in two weeks.

"They took away our neighborhood," said Sielski. "They took away our parking. They took away our peace and quiet so that we couldn't use one whole side of the building during the day for the last 18 months."

Since the owners were unable to finance a protracted legal battle against the college, Sielski said they have been unable to confront Smith about the damages to their business from the Ford Hall project in the last few years.

"We've agreed to everything they've told us to do," Sielski said. "Carol Christ said for years she was going to keep us whole. The mayor made the same promise, because Green Street was important to Northampton and the Smith community. And if this is whole, I don't want to know what not being whole is."

Smith holds the lease for the cafe building. The college has marked the building as a site for possible future expansion, according to the Smith Web site, but the cafe has a lease through 2012.

In Fall 2005, Smith made a written offer to the Cafe owners to reduce the rent on the building or to pay moving costs if the owners chose to relocate, according to Fenlason's February 20 letter.

This, according to Fenlason's letter, is one of the ways Smith has attempted to work with the owners "in recognition of the fact that construction on Ford Hall ... would be disruptive."

"The Mayor's Office and the college have extended financial assistance, business counseling, and numerous accommodations to the Cafe in support of its operations," Fenlason wrote.

Sielski, however, said that the money Smith offered was not enough to start and sustain a restaurant in a new location. Construction and renovations in the Arnold Avenue area are scheduled for completion May 22. The cafe parking lot will be reopened at that time.

The Ford Hall Web site notes that Smith has less space per student than many other colleges, only 125 acres for 2,600 students, meaning that future expansion may not be slowed despite conflicts such as those with Green Street Cafe.

In the meantime, both Fenlason and Sielski acknowledged that the college and the cafe are linked.

"We have a national reputation," Sielski said. "We do a good job, and Smith has benefited from the very good job we do. We also realize we probably wouldn't be here if not for Smith."