Workshops Planned for Town Center Gateway in Old Saybrook

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. - Improving the aesthetical appearance of Boston Post Road will be the focus of two upcoming workshops being sponsored by the Old Saybrook Land Use Department.

The workshops specifically will focus on the section of Boston Post Road from the railroad bridge on the east, near Pat's Kountry Kitchen, to Ledge Road on the west, near the Ocean State Job Lot shopping center.

This section of Boston Post Road has been identified as the Town Center Gateway area.

It is the first of a series of "nodes" identified along the Boston Post Road in a study prepared by the Yale Urban Design Workshop in 2005.

The town will receive technical assistance from architect Tom MacDonald of East Wharf Architects, of Madison, and landscape architect Tom Elmore of the Elmore Design Collaborative, of Springfield, Mass.

MacDonald is also working on the project that will convert the former town hall into the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

In terms of implementing suggestions, Nelson said that can happen in one of two ways.

The town can proactively work with the Connecticut Department of Transportation in implementing some of these suggestions, Nelson said, and/or property owners can reactively make improvements to their properties.

Recent improvements to this node include the creation of the Village Gateway Information Center at the southwest corner of Boston Post Road and Main Street, the Saybrook Country Barn expansion at the southeast corner of the two streets, and the recently built colonial-looking CVS Pharmacy at the corner of Stage Road and Boston Post Road.

First Selectman Michael Pace said he expects construction on the Village Gateway Information Center will be complete in July.

Town Planner Christine Nelson said the center is a "visual of things to come" for the rest of the Town Center Gateway area.

The first workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 15 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Pasbeshauke Pavilion at Saybrook Point Park.

Topics that will be discussed include pedestrian and vehicular safety, signs, street lights, trees and landscaping, and nearby neighborhoods.