Neighborhood braces for next stage in evolution
- By Modisane Kwanza -- Free Press Staff Writer -- Friday, October 18, 2002
COLCHESTER -- As neighborhoods go, there's nothing like this one anywhere else in Vermont:
It's media central, with five radio stations, two TV stations and two recording studios. It has its own budding arts district, with a spectacular performance hall, fine arts studios and theater space.
It's a hub for niche businesses, such as pipe wholesalers and World Wide Web hosting firms. It has a population that might be more diverse than any other area its size in the state.
Fort Ethan Allen is a historical oddity spanning Colchester and Essex that is mostly overlooked by the public at large. However, the 110-year-old fort figures prominently in the plans of several more familiar entities -- not just both towns, but two major landlords, the University of Vermont and St. Michael's College. A commuter rail stop is envisioned at the fort. Dorms and student housing are targeted for upgrades, and small businesses are pushing to expand.
The neighborhood, which has evolved in fits and starts, is poised for more change. The question is what form that change will take, and whether the fort will be able to maintain its character.
With its brick military-style buildings, this doesn't look like a place where you can go to hear the Vermont Youth Orchestra perform, buy a hot tub, or attend an Islamic prayer service.
One of a kind
The fort was built between 1893 and 1904 as a U.S. Army cavalry post. Thousands of troops trained there through World Wars I and II before the complex was retired to civilian use in 1960.
Decommissioned forts in other states have been cobbled up and chopped up, said architect Thom Wood, who has lived on Dalton Drive, or "Officers Row," for 10 years. But not this one.
"In the grand scheme, the fort is relatively intact," Wood said. "We still have a strong historical integrity."
The mix of old and new gives the fort its character. The Firetech Sprinkler Corp. building used to be a stable for the cavalry's horses, and the old hay loft door is still visible at the top of the building. Meanwhile, a media production company, a Web hosting firm, a clothing manufacturer and the Islamic Society of Vermont operate out of a converted horse stable.
Building 1304 -- people at the fort still use the old army parlance instead of street addresses -- started out as troop barracks and is now housing.
Vermont Public Radio is in the old veterinarian hospital. The stockades are apartments, and the Green Mountain Nursing home is in the old post hospital.
"I love the history," said property owner and Fort Ethan Allen authority William Parkinson. "I love being there in the middle of it."
Mixed-used development evolved at Fort Ethan Allen long before that approach came into vogue.
The fort is home to 57 businesses and organizations. UVM owns 35 buildings on 18 acres -- including 22 residential buildings housing approximately 260 students and families. St. Michael's College houses up to 250 students in apartment complexes and dorms at the fort.
According to U.S. Census data, 1,360 people live at the fort, including Winchester Place, a residential development near the Colchester entrance. Fifteen percent of that population is non-white. In Chittenden County, only Winooski comes close to that kind of ethnic and racial diversity, at 7.7 percent.
"There's also age diversity with the nursing home, student housing and private homes," Colchester Town Manager Al Voegele noted. "It's a very dynamic community."
Evolution
The 157-acre fort faced its last big developmental challenge 15 years ago.
In 1987, the University of Vermont decided to sell 21 buildings on Dalton Drive and the parade grounds along Vermont 15. Some feared that the old buildings might be razed or that new construction might detract from the fort's historic ambiance.
In response to those concerns, UVM asked Colchester to come up with a plan for the entire fort, and a fort master plan was unveiled the following year. Among the recommendations: promoting a mix of commercial, institutional and educational uses; rehabilitating buildings; preserving the fort's historic stature; and increasing the tax base by expanding the commercial sector.
That led to utility upgrades, new sewer lines and street repairs. The plan also addressed the demand for more affordable housing. The Colchester Community Development Corp. struck a deal to build 166 affordable units at Winchester Place on land owned by St. Michael's College.
In 1990, the Vermont Housing Financing Agency bought the houses on Officers Row from UVM for $1.5 million. The homes were resold to private owners on the condition that any work on the buildings be done within historical-preservation standards.
That was a small price to pay for the opportunity to live at the fort, said Dalton Drive resident Michael Mansfield-Marcoux, as he repaired an outside stairway recently.
"Just look at it," Mansfield-Marcoux said, with a dramatic wave of the hand toward the street of well-kept brick homes and the 18-acre parade ground. The sun adorned the open green, tall trees and playground. "It's gorgeous."
More change
Transportation brought about dramatic changes at the fort. Between the world wars, buildings and grounds were adapted for motorized vehicles.
Today, another form of transportation promises to shape the fort's future: commuter rail service is under consideration for the Vermont 15 corridor, with a station proposed across the street from the fort. The state has been awarded $4.8 million in federal money for engineering, land purchases and to construct the 8-mile train line.
State transportation planners would like to see commercial activity and residential density gradually increase along the corridor to support the rail service. Bill Knight, director of the regional planning commission, emphasized that "we don't want changes that negatively affect the fort."
The commission is looking at ways to improve access from Vermont 15 and is working with the Vermont National Guard on a proposal for a connector road. The college wants to connect its main campus to the fort so students don't have to walk along Vermont 15, President Marc vanderHeyden said.
At a meeting of the fort parties in August, UVM's Linda Seavey noted that the school is planning extensive rehabilitation of two apartment complexes, County Apartments and Ethan Allen Apartments, from 2003 through 2005.
The fort is about five miles from the main UVM campus. Still, the land holdings at the fort are important to UVM, Seavey said, and are included in the school's 10-year residential life plan, as well as UVM's overall Campus Land Use Master Plan update that is under way.
St. Michael's plans to complete several deferred maintenance projects at its fort properties in the next 10 years, vanderHeyden said. Last summer, the school finished a $750,000 upgrade to the Sloane Arts Center, providing studio space for faculty and students and for the school's artist-in-residence program.
The Vermont Youth Orchestra is leasing its grand performance hall (formerly an armory and gym) from St. Michael's for $1 a year for the next century. The VYO invested $2 million in the project. The school seeks to form a similar partnership to fill its empty theater and chapel at the fort.
"We have to think of the entire neighborhood and not just the college," vanderHeyden said.
Meanwhile, media and technology folks envision a network of fiber-optic connections throughout the fort. A shared media center is not far-fetched, they say.
For example, Scott Esmond of Egan Media Productions envisions recording a VYO concert at the performance hall, sending the recording to his studio to be mixed, and then zipping the recording over to VPR to be aired.
Now is also a good time to reaffirm the goals outlined in the 1988 master plan, others said.
"We need to remember the retail and commercial aspects," said Lori Lawton of Firetech. "In order to live here we need jobs. In order to have jobs, we need commerce."
A task force headed by the Colchester Community Development Corp. is looking at what projects are proposed for the fort and what adjustments could be made. The task force wants to complete its work by January.
A group of small-business owners is working on a list of concerns from the fort's commercial sector -- including zoning changes that would readily permit expansion.
"The town knows there are a great many forces of change converging on that area," Voegele said. "All these forces are descending on this neighborhood. It needs some help to define what the needs are and that's why it's important that the community is in charge, not the town."
Residents, many of whom like the fort just the way it is, are watching closely.
Contact Modisane Kwanza at 660-1833 or mkwanza@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.
Fort history
-- 1892: Vermont gives U.S. government 600 acres and buildings for a four-company cavalry post.
-- 1893-1904: Fort Ethan Allen constructed.
-- 1933-1938: Served as headquarters of the Vermont District Civilian Conservation Corps.
-- 1943: Declared inactive, but used for equipment storage through 1947.
-- 1952: U.S. Air Force takes over command of fort.
-- 1960-1962: Fort officially closed, conversion begins from a military base to residential and commercial use.
-- 1961: 787 acres transferred to Vermont National Guard.
-- 1964: University of Vermont and St. Michael's College sign 20-year agreement with the U.S. Education Department under which schools receive gradual control over the land and buildings with the stipulation that they be used for educational purposes.
-- 1987: UVM decides to sell 30 acres and 21 buildings on Dalton Drive, also known as "Officers Row" and the parade grounds along Vermont 15.
-- 1988: Fort Master Plan completed.
-- 1989: Utilities, sewer and water lines upgraded throughout fort with help of $750,000 grant from the state Development and Community Affairs Agency.
-- 1990: Vermont Housing Financing Agency buys "Officers Row" houses from UVM for $1.5 million with plan to turn them into 77 residential units, with at least 25 allocated for affordable housing.
-- 1992: Apartments for low- and moderate-income families opened in building heavily damaged in 1990 fire.
-- 1995: Officers Row units completed and occupied.
-- 2000: New Jersey company withdraws request for a permit to operate a halfway house for addicted offenders at Fort after residents loudly protest plan.
-- 2002: Town of Colchester initiates push to see whether master plan should be updated.
