Officials gather for power line ceremony on Lynnway

LYNN – State and city officials gathered with representatives of National Grid and Lynn business leaders Wednesday morning on the waterfront at the end of Harding Street, for a ceremonial ground breaking to start the long anticipated relocation of the South Harbor power corridor.The work, expected to take at least a year, will move the poles and power lines off the coastline to the opposite side of the Lynnway and open a 100-acre swath of coastline for potential new private development.The project has been more than six years in planning by city and state officials in conjunction with National Grid, General Electric Co. and other private property owners, and faced many hurdles including a court challenge by some owners over small land takings needed for easements to the new corridor.The new route will bring the power lines down Harding Street and across the highway, north along the back of the General Electric plant and the back of the Lynnway’s southbound businesses, then cross back over the highway near Sonny’s Car Wash (the aerial graphic shows where the power corridor is today in yellow and where the new corridor will run in red).Lynn Economic and Industrial Corp. Director James Cowdell, who along with State Rep. Steven Walsh, Rep. Robert Fennell, state Sen. Thomas McGee, former Mayor Edward J. “Chip” Clancy Jr. and City Council President Timothy Phelan are among those who spearheaded planning, emceed a half-hour ceremony, calling it “an historic day for Lynn.”Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who was also in on the initial planning as a member of the City Council and finalized project details as mayor, said, “The citizens of Lynn, for the first time in 50 years, will be able to use this area to live, shop, eat and relax along a beautiful expanse of ocean.”Among those Kennedy credited was her predecessor, Clancy, “for getting the ball rolling and moving this project along.” Clancy did not attend the ceremony.Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, who helped secure a $2.5 million state grant to support the project, said, “What this means for the city of Lynn is transformative – to be able to take 100 acres of underutilized property with a view like this on a day like today and imagine the significant private investment this will lead to, hopefully to create jobs here in Lynn and the commonwealth.”There is not a lack of interest of companies indigenous to Massachusetts and outside that want to grow and expand here because we have a workforce that is unparalleled,” Murray said. “What we have not had is an inventory of pre-permitted, pad-ready sites.”The power lines relocation, he said, will ideally help build that inventory.State Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki called the power lines project “an ideal example” of state, municipal and private partnership.Phelan, the City Council president, commended his colleagues for their work over nine separate public hearings on the project.”The Council voted and bonded $4 million when there was a lot of pressure on us from many in the community, in difficult economic times, telling us we needed the money for other things. But we realized that the potential for the expansion of the commercial tax base in the Lynn and the analysis we did from a financial perspective made it a no-brainer that this project would pay for itself over a period of time.”This is a mistake our forefathers made 50 years ago, and it is being corrected today with the help of everybody here.”Phelan warned however that as much if not more work will be required to find and encourage suitable waterfront development.”This is just the beginning. If we move the power lines and have no development, then what we’ve done really is not a benefit to the city,” Phelan said.State Sen. McGee said, “I think of the cars that speed by here each day with no idea what’s behind these buildings,” referring to Merchandise Mart, Wal-Mart and other businesses on the Lynnway’s northbound side that hide the coastline. “We’ve worke