COURTESY PHOTO
A bird’s-eye view of walking changes in force for 12-18 months once work gets underway on Malden Square’s renewal.
By STEVE FREKER
MALDEN — Immediate changes to pedestrian traffic are being made in Malden Square around the former Malden City Hall/Police Station slated for demolition to clear space for new development.
Construction site fencing around the 3.2-acre City Hall and old Police Station and First Church means pedestrians no longer have access to the walkway through City Hall Plaza or alongside the Heritage Apartments while work is underway.
Pedestrians on Pleasant Street will be required to access Abbot and Exchange streets or Washington and Florence streets for access to the MBTA station. Signage at the site will help guide pedestrians.
Residents will have to adapt to the walking restrictions — they will be in place for the 12- to 18-month-long demolition and construction period.
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Jefferson Apartment Group plans to transform the site into a $30 million residential/commercial mixed-use development that will eventually include a permanent home for City Hall operations. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring.
Malden’s temporary seat of government now operates on Pleasant Street, four blocks from City Hall. The renewal project will build on other recent city achievements, including construction and opening of a new, state-of-the-art police station on Eastern Avenue.
The project clears the way for reconnecting Pleasant Street to create unimpeded traffic flow for the first time in 43 years.
Hailed as a modern seat of city government, the City Hall building gradually developed a reputation as a nuisance straddling Pleasant Street. Mayor Gary Christenson made the relocation of Malden City Hall and the reopening of Pleasant Street to vehicular traffic a major campaign pledge when he first ran for mayor.
