Planning a true Wonderland

REVERE – Mayor Dan Rizzo believes the Waterfront Square development by the Wonderland MBTA Station is vital for Revere?s economic development.?The future of economic opportunities lays in the project,” Rizzo said Wednesday night at an informational session in the gymnasium of the Paul Revere School.The City of Revere have been working to create a master plan for a transit-oriented project at Wonderland Station. The mixed-use development will contain new market rate residential units, office and retail space and a hotel.The site will create vibrant space centered on Wonderland Station in order to improve pedestrian traffic, access to the surrounding neighborhoods and Revere Beach. There will also be a new parking garage and a pedestrian bridge connecting Wonderland Station to Revere Beach.The first step of the plan was the construction of the south parking garage, which has been under way for months. The garage will be seven stories high with approximately 1,465 parking spaces. There will also be a bike storage area and bus way that will allow buses easy and covered access to the station.?We will be wrapping up construction on the garage soon,” Suffolk Construction project manager Christopher Walenten said. “We expect an opening in late June.”Access to the pedestrian bridge will be from the third floor of the garage. The bridge will go over Ocean Avenue and grant easy access to Revere Beach from the T station.?We want to bring the beach to the other side of Ocean Ave.,” Arrowstreet Associate Principal David Bois said.The foundation for the bridge has begun, Walenten said, and they expect completion in late fall.There will also be commercial and private development built around the station that will include restaurants, a hotel, retail stores and residential buildings that will be known as Waterfront Square.?We want this to be the focal point for Revere,” Bois said. “We want to create an active environment. We want people in-and-out from early morning to late afternoon. We want it to be a vibrant place.”From the beginning, the aim of the design process has been to construct and maintain an inviting environment.?We have always had the notion and concept of this being a neighborhood,” Arrowstreet Managing Director Joe Digangi said.?We hope it becomes an attraction where businesses want to move to, families want to raise their children and where people want to retire,” Bois added.Ward 4 Councilor Stephen Reardon asked when the construction of Waterfront Square portion of the development would begin.The anchor piece of the square would be the hotel which officials hope opens in late 2013. Officials are waiting to see if Suffolk Downs is chosen for a casino site to see how many rooms the hotel must contain. If the casino is located elsewhere it will contain 100 rooms; if a casino does come to Revere the hotel will have 200 rooms.Rizzo said hotel chains are already stating interest in the location.?There is a lot of good buzz surrounding this project,” he said.Revere resident Marc James expressed excitement over the project.?I can?t wait to see how it all turns out,” he said. “It will be great to have some sort of vitality in that area.”Rizzo also expressed a similar enthusiasm.?This is the flagship development in Revere,” Rizzo said. “We can not hang development on gaming. We need to be aggressive.”Sara Brown can be reached at [email protected].