While some of these will most likely not happen considering the current financial crisis and general feasibility, here they are for consideration in the public discourse.
1. Clean Up And Develop The Area Around Sawin’s Pond: Sawin’s Pond is the area at the intersection of Arsenal Street and Greenough Blvd and was literally used as a dump by previous occupants. Last I heard, the Army Corps of Engineers where still thinking of ways to clean up the site. If that ever happens, this could a prime location for everything from more parklands, new condos, an office park, a movie theater or a bunch of things that could improve town life and or add tax revenue. While the area has a long way to go before it could actually be used for something, we should be looking at ways to help speed up the process.
2. Do Something With The Settles Glass Site: This is at a prime location in the middle of town (347 Main Street) and it is just festering there. It is a decent sized location with parking. If the Town Council does not want Clyde Younger to turn it into a Burger King, at least get a move on to try to turn it into something aside from an eyesore.
3. Connecting The Charles River Bike Path To The Minuteman Path: There is already a planned proposed to connect the Charles River Bike Path to the Minuteman Bike Path using the little used rail way, but the costs do not make it feasible right now. Maybe we could get Obama to include some money in the bazillion dollar stimulus package for this.
4. Make More Use Of The Arsenal Park Amphitheatre: If it was fixed up a little it could be used more for outdoor family concerts or even night time shows with sold tickets.
5. This is the least likely, but I always thought it would be cool to have a Charles River Commuter Boat that stopped at the Watertown Dock.