With the hard work underway of restoring Thompsonville back to a destination neighborhood , a local expert met with the community to give them advice on what the next steps are to reaching their goals. With both the police and fire chiefs in attendance at the latest Voices for Thompsonville meeting, Don Courtemanche, executive director of the Springfield Business Improvement District, encouraged listeners to use the dedicated volunteer base they had and even consider hiring someone full-time to look out for their interests.
Courtemanche is presently in the process of revitalizing Springfield’s downtown and worked intimately to do the same for New Britain for the last nine years. He sees a lot of similarities. “You are similar to what New Britain was,” he said, and went on to talk about how both cities have an overly-saturated retail destination which he deemed as the “competitors” for small businesses . He also pointed out a major difference he sees between the two cities, “In New Britain, people didn’t have any faith in their downtown. I am going to contrast that with what I see here,” he said, putting his hands out to the many volunteers assembled at the Polish Home. Courtemanche spent time spotlighting Thompsonville’s unique features, which of course to residents is no news. “I see an urban center that has terrific bones,” he said, “a riverfront, architecture , a well laid out street grid.” These are things that Courtemanche said “most downtowns would kill for.” “The days of getting in your car and driving five miles for a gallon of gas are gone,” he said, encouraging the group to assemble a list of retailers in the area. Questions about bus service, crime, zoning, and grants followed. Courtemanche offered several ideas to the group on how to continue the process of bringing the Main Street feel back to the historical neighborhood.
