SANDWICH – An architecture firm presented a conceptual plan to the town of Sandwich recently to reshape the area around the Sandwich Marina.
Union Studio, a Providence based firm, was chosen by the state agency MassDevelopment to create the plan. Union Studio specializes in community design and larger scale neighborhood development.
Union Studio Founding Principal Donald Powers said the proposal is a “blue-sky” concept, which would be an ideal plan for the area.
“That’s what planners do. We plan for sort of a 50-year scenario not a five-year scenario,” he said. “With the understanding that parcels change ownership and that circumstances change.”
Powers said the town originally was looking for a plan to develop town-owned land abutting the marina, but during the course of the study it was decided a larger scope made sense. That larger scope includes other property owners including NRG and Global Partners LP.
Included in the plan is a road that would run from Merchant’s Square crossing Tupper Road continuing along the marina to where the canal meets Cape Cod Bay.
Along the proposed road there would be an intermodal transit center, which could take advantage of rail lines for possible commuter services, according to Powers.
Powers said there would also be a low-scale development that would include retail and residential buildings in a two- or three-story scale that would give a developer an opportunity to develop town-owned land.
“We had done a market study of the available opportunities in this part of the Cape,” he said. “And what came back was that while there wasn’t much opportunity for retail, there was a market for residential and there may be a market for a hotel/conference center.”
The concept plans included a resort style hotel on the water where the Cape Cod Canal meets Cape Cod Bay.
“That could be a viable commercial endeavor for somebody,” Powers said. “Because most of the other ones are either further out on the Cape or closer into Boston.”
