Downtown Sense of Scale

Downtown Salem’s Sense of Scale (Listed 2006)

In 2006, Historic Salem nominated the Sense of Scale of the city's downtown area to the potentially endangered category. Salem's increased desirability as a highly livable, human-scaled city has attracted tremendous interest on the part of the development community. Great care must be exercised in the development of large new projects because they can, by their very nature, pose serious potential threats to the city's unique historic character and scale and to an exceedingly fragile urban streetscape. These developments may have far-reaching and long-term impacts, not unlike those proposed in the 1965 urban renewal plan. Today, Salem's downtown character owes much to the layers of building types that have accreted over several centuries, a character of texture and scale which is difficult to emulate in very large new buildings.

Among the projects under active consideration in 2006 were plans for the Salem News block, the proposal for the redevelopment of the St. Joseph's site, and the new J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center. Historic Salem recommended that elements of urban design, including context, scale, materials, and diversity be carefully considered as these and other projects go forward. As we look at the three projects highlighted as examples, we see mixed results to date: success in the process conducted for the Salem Marketplace project and the development project underway now; an uncertain but likely negative outcome for St. Joseph's development at the time of this update; and significant concerns about the Courthouse project.

While these projects will hopefully yield important tax revenues or, in the case of the courthouse, retain important court functions in downtown Salem, they also offer challenges that need to be addressed.

• City resources are being severely challenged by the amount and scope of development proposals.
• Historic Salem believes that it is important that the City develop a comprehensive way to evaluate and review these projects, as it did for the Marketplace Project.

We will continue to work closely with the City and its Boards, development entities, and the neighborhoods and businesses affected by these developments to help ensure that these projects meet Historic Salem's goals: buildings that respect Salem's historic character, serve to enhance Salem's unique urban and historic fabric, and ensure that Salem remains a livable, pedestrian-friendly city.

We have summarized the impact of these projects here. More detail is provided in individual reports on these projects.

• Salem Marketplace
  Historic Salem views the Salem Marketplace project planning and the resulting development of part of the plan underway as largely successful.

  In 2005, plans were announced for a full redevelopment of the downtown block bounded by Washington, New Derby, Front and Lafayette Streets. These plans would have demolished all the historic buildings on the site, including the former Salem News building and the historic building that Delande's Lighting occupies. In addition the proposed density, footprint and height of the project would have been entirely out of scale with the surrounding area. The public expressed great concern over this plan and the Mayor established a review process in which Historic Salem participated which resulted in the 2006 Salem Marketplace Design Peer Review Report and Recommendations. This report establishes a blueprint for development of this area that respects Salem's scale and provides for new development that complements Salem's historic fabric.

  These recommendations call for retaining and incorporating the historic fabric of the site and provide careful planning for scale, materials and appropriately dense development on this block of downtown Salem. At that time the developer announced they would not go forward with the complete plan, however in 2007 they came back to the city with a modified, smaller plan that was mostly consistent with the Marketplace Report and Recommendations. The proposal, under construction as of Summer 2008, calls for the renovation of the historic Salem News Buildings (Central House and Edgewater Café buildings) and construction of a new mixed use building on the corner of Washington and New Derby Streets. As a member of the Marketplace Committee, Historic Salem advocated for the retention of those buildings, and provided extensive design review comment on both the renovation of the historic buildings and the design of the new building. Most of Historic Salem's design recommendations were incorporated in the new building with the exception of the corner design. The Marketplace report will continue to serve as an important blueprint articulating a comprehensive and shared vision for development of the remainder of this site, including Artist Row and the Delande's Lighting building.

  Also see update on Salem News Building - Signs of Improvement

• St. Joseph's Church Complex
  Historic Salem continues to be concerned about issues of scale and design for the project at this site, however as of this update, the latest plans have not yet been presented.

  Several plans for the site, including both 4 story and 6 story designs, calling for demolishing the church and retaining the rectory for housing, were permitted in 2006 and challenged by appeals which have stopped forward movement on the project.

  In the summer of 2008, the City Council approved the extension of the B-5 zoning adjacent to the site to permit a possible drug store on the first floor. Unfortunately, B-5 zoning also allows a six-story building. Historic Salem continues to feel strongly that a four-story building is most appropriate at that highly visible location adjacent to three and four story structures and hopes that the rectory will be saved. Now that the zoning change is approved, it will be important to see the developer's plans. However, based on B-5 zoning provisions and earlier plans submitted by the developer, Historic Salem is very concerned that the scale and design of this project may be out of keeping with its surroundings. This concern is magnified because, unlike the area that the Salem News project is in, the SRA or the Design Review Board does not regulate this block. Historic Salem strongly supports the Council's consideration at this time of including the newly-rezoned area in the SRA district, thus providing for more careful control and design review of the parcel when a new proposal is put forward by the developer.

  Also see update on St. Joseph's Court Complex - Endangered

• J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center (Courthouse Project)
  Historic Salem is very concerned about the scale, mass and design of the J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center. Both the plans presented to date and the lack of responsiveness of DCAM to comments by the public, Historic Salem and other interested parties have been very disappointing, as has the limited public review. The last public meeting held on this project was for 30% design in March 2008. At this time no further public meetings are planned on Salem's most costly and most important project. Historic Salem will review and comment on the 60% design plans to be released in summer 2008.

  Plans for the new J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center in the Federal Street court campus call for a new 190,000 square foot structure to meet the court's programmatic needs, saving and moving the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, demolishing the three houses at the corner of Federal and North Street, and abandoning and de-accessioning the two court buildings at the corner of Federal and Washington Streets. A detailed discussion is provided in the full project report.

  Historic Salem embraces the investment in our downtown that is represented by a major development like this project. However, Historic Salem is very concerned about the impact that this project will have on the City and disappointed that this project does not provide all the potential benefits it could have offered Salem. With respect to Sense of Scale, the three historic houses which could have provided a transition from the grand civic spaces on the east end of Federal Street to the residential character of the west end of Federal Street have been demolished. While the Baptist Church is being reused and moved, its placement at a corner angle to the street does not contribute to a sense of historic streetscape. The designers have maintained that the reason for the placement is to preserve the historic angle of the church to the street.

  The most apparent impact to the downtown sense of scale is the proposed Ruane Judicial Center itself. Renderings presented in March 2008 showed a building entirely out of scale with its neighboring buildings and with the skyline of Salem, and with little use of high quality materials in the exterior design to mitigate the scale of the building or to link it to the surrounding national register historic district. In the planning stages of the project there were many opportunities to minimize the scale of this building that were missed and sadly, as the project progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to make any meaningful changes in the design that will minimize this negative impact.

  Also see update on Impact of the Courthouse Project on Historic Districts - 2008 Top Priority

Last Updated: July 18, 2008