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Nashua Downtown Master Plan

I X-Rays A UDA X-RAY DRAWING ALLOws the Design team to better IO
understand the study area, as well as illustrating for city resi-
dents and stakeholders the myriad assets and natural patterns
found throughout the City. An X-Ray drawing isolates a phys-
ical element or category of land use (such as streets) to illus~
trate patterns and opportunities difficult to perceive when
combined in a single drawing. By studying the various natural
and man-made systems, urban designers can unveil the under-
lying patterns, problems, and opportunities of a project area.
Often, from these natural, historic, and development patterns,
the beginnings of strategies and solutions emerge.
UDA X-Rays are drawn at several scales. By examining the
site within the context of the region, city, and immediate study
area, one can begin to see the physical forces that impact and
influence it. In the case of Nashua’s Downtown, X-Ray draw-
ings at the regional scale illustrate the City’s strategic location
within the region, while X-Rays at the site scale depict the
immediate patterns of the built and natural landscape within
the boundaries of the City.
The study area for the
Plan is centered on ea
Main Street but
extends east and west
to include the adjacent
neighborboods and cross
streets— the extent of
the historic and
traditional

Downtown.

URBAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES

Regional Locator
Map

(top left)

Located just north of
the Massachusetts state
border, Nashua is the
outermost major city in
the Boston “tommuter-
shed.”

Regional Natural
Features

(bottom left}

Located at the
confluence of the
Merrimack and
Nashua rivers, the City
is connected to
watersheds and natural
systems that reach out to
the region in every

direction.

Nashua Downtown Master Plan

e Hi
(top right)
The City of Nashua is
located at the
convergence of several
arterial roads, each
well-connected to the

Interstates.

Regional Streets
(bottom right}

Main Street is one of
only two surface road
crossings of the Nashua
River within the City.
Downtown Nashua
comprises a collection of
colliding, irregular grids
and connective arterial
roads.

The suburban street
pattern, where most of
the new growth has
occurred in the last 10 -
20 years is distinctly
different than the urban
arid of the bistoric town

URBAN DESIGN

Topography

(top left)

The Downtown gently
slopes to the Nashua
River from the south,
with the land dropping
more steeply to the river
on its north side. The
lowland stretching from
the Nashua River to
Salmon Brook
represents unstable soils
for development and
bas therefore historically

been an industrial area.

Commercial
(middle left)

Main Street retail
development north of
Hollis Street is a
relatively dense
concentration of small-
scale, street-oriented
buildings that form
pedestrian-scaled spaces.
South of Hollis Street,
the commercial
buildings on Main
Street are scaled to the

automobile.

Residential

(bottom left}

Many of the City’
neighborboods are
intact; however, their
edges are frayed.
Nashua’s neighborhoods
engage neither the river,

nor Main Street. .

Nashua Downtown Master Plan

Streets RQ
(top right)

The street framework of
Downtown Nashua is
comprised of several
grids, South of the
Nashua River, the grids
are organized relative

to Main Street. North
of the river, the street
grids respond to the
several diagonal
arterials that converge

at Railroad Square.

Building Footprint
and Flood Plain
(middle right)
Downtown is generally
comprised of medium ~
sized commercial
buildings, small-scale
residential buildings,
and long, linear
industrial buildings.
Several of the original
Nashua Manufacturing
Company buildings,
now conuerted to other
uses, were originally
built in the 10-year
flood plain (shown in
light blue)

Neighborhoods
(bottom right}

The neighborhoods of
Downtown Nashua are
delineated by the
arterials and corridors
that carry cross town

tr

URBAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES

Institutions and
Open Space

(top left)

The core of Downtown
Nashua has many
institutional buildings
(purple) but no central
park or public gathering
space. The beginnings of
a network of trails (red
dots) follow the natural
areas along the Nashua
River and the

abandoned rail line.

Parking

(bottom left}

Surface parking lots
(light grey) are a
dominant land use in
much of Downtown.
Only a fow parking
garages (dark grey)
presently exist forcing
much valuable
Downtown real estate
to be used as surface

parking.

Nashua Downtown Master Plan

Industrial B
(top right)

Industrial uses

dominate the edges of

the Nashua River and

rail lines. Throughout

the City, many of the
former industrial uses

have been converted to

offices or commercial

space.

Connectivity

(bottom right}

Despite having tight
grids of streets and
being located at the
traditional center of the
City, few streets extend
beyond the Downtown.

UR EAN DESIGN assocrates Nashua Downtown Master Plan

II Precedents THE BEST DESIGN SOLUTIONS emerge from the inherent pat-
terns and vernacular of a region. Nashua is one of several Mer-
rimack Valley river towns unique even within the greater
region of which it is a part. Planned as settlements to support
the textile manufacturing industry in New England in the early
nineteenth century, Nashua and its sister cities along the Mer-
rimack River are strikingly similar in their history and plan-
ning. By studying the original urban form and the
redevelopment that has occurred along the Merrimack Valley
as the economy and development base has changed over time,
Nashua can develop strategies to root itself in its unique past
while planning for an ever-changing future.

Other Merrimack Valley cities similar in both form and
history to Nashua, such as Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill,
provide precedents of exemplary spaces, development strate-

gies, urban design approaches steeped in a similar regional fla-

vor and industrial past.

UR EAN DESIGN assocrates Nashua Downtown Master Plan

u1 Historic Analysis

THOUGH DANIEL ABBOTT 18 WIDELY REGARDED as the “Father 15
of Nashua,” the area of the City now known as Downtown was
designed by Asher Benjamin from 1824 through 1827. Primar-
ily known for his use of the pattern book for residential design,
Nashua was Benjamin's only foray into town planning. Ben-
jamin originally planned Nashua as an industrial town with an
area for the region’s textile manufacturing on the river, drawing
power for its operation from Mine Falls located three miles
west. His ideas were utilitarian and simple. A north-south
main street provided a bridge across the Nashua River at its
north end, leading to Union Square, a public space and railroad
depot known today as Railroad Square. A cross-axis was estab-
lished along Factory Street, which defined the heart of the
Downtown. At one end of the Factory Street axis stood the
Olive Street Church, later Pilgrim Church; and at the other
end, the great smoke stack of the Nashua Manufacturing

Company. These simple but powerful urban relationships

remained intact for over 150 years

The Olive Street
Church, Asher
Benjamin’ beautiful
religious structure,
defined the end of a
visual axis between
itself and the Nashua
Manufacturing
Company buildings.

Nashua Downtown Master Plan

After World War II, the integrity of
Benjamin's plan began to erode. In 1984,
the Pilgrim Church was demolished.
Indian Head Plaza, a 6-story office
building surrounded by parking, and a
small park were built on the site of the
Church. One of Nashua’s landmarks was
lost and Benjamin’s plan was weakened.

Other changes since 1960 further
affected the Downtown. Streets were
vacated, traffic patterns changed, build-
ings demolished, and parking lots built in
an effort to accommodate the automo-
bile. These measures were ineffective in
saving Downtown from its slide in the
1970's. Specifically, the Bronstein Apart-
ments, Courthouse Oval, library devel-
opment and Spring/Elm Street Parking
lots, although well conceived, had nega-
tive urban design consequences.

Nashua weathered the 1980's and
early 1990's with studies and projects
that led to important public improve-
ments and traditions, such as the distinc-
tive brick sidewalks. Nashua’s resurgence
in the late 1990's is due in no small part
to a revived appreciation for the City’s
heritage. This was confirmed in the pub-

lic outreach effort, of this study, as it

became clear there was a strong under-
standing and stewardship of the history
and heritage of Nashua. This public
awareness has manifested itself in
restored buildings, civic programming
and events, such as the Holiday Stroll,
vintage signage on private buildings, and
historically-appropriate streetscaping.
These actions have re-established a con-
temporary authenticity to the City, have
created a sense of place, and have made

Downtown Nashua a regional destina-

tion

Asher Benjamin
(bottom) created a plan
(for Nashua where axial
relationships provided
focus on prominent City
structures. Pearl Street
was bookended by the
Nashua Manufacturing
Company and the
Olive Street Church,
(later, Pilgrim Church).
The Hunt Building
terminates Main Street

in the north.

UR EAN DESIGN assocrates Nashua Downtown Master Plan

Appreciation for local culture, as well
as a focus on the City’s new technologi-
cal development will be featured in the
proposed Center for Nashua Heritage
and Future Technology, located on Fac-

tory Street and overlooking a new river-

front park. This museum will display y
Nashua’s unique history as the founda-

tion on which the City can meet the

challenges of the future.

Changes since 1960
1 Bronstein
Apartments -

Street vacated for public
housing

2 Courthouse Oval -
Streets reconfigured into
aconfusing one-way
system

3 Nashua Public
Library ~ Park Street
vacated creating a block
‘with poor access

4 Spring and Elin
Streets - Many
buildings demolished for
parking lots

es Nashua Downtown Master Plan

The Planning Process

UR EAN DESIGN assocrates Nashua Downtown Master Plan

I

Overview of the Process

Public Meetings
The Master Plan Team
met with the citizens of
Nashua to gather input
and learn of their goals

and vision for the

City’s future.

PROMPTED BY A RECOMMENDATION in the Nashua 2000 Mas- 19
ter Plan, the city of Nashua commissioned Urban Design
Associates (UDA) to prepare a Downtown Master Plan in the
summer of 2002. This Plan, is an update of Nashua 2000 and

will be based on public input, will act as a framework for future
development and decision making and will provide guidance to

the City in their efforts to:

1. Seek and evaluate development proposals, and

2 Prioritize public infrastructure investments.

The UDA team consisted of Urban Design Associates
(lead firm), Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart
(transportation planning) and Stuart Patz and Associates (mar-
ket analysis). In addition, the UDA team relied heavily on the
technical, institutional and organizational assistance of the
City’s Community Development Division and Public Works
Division. The views and knowledge of city staff were integral
in crafting this plan. Finally, and most importantly, the team
relied on spirited and enthusiastic input from Nashua’s resi-
dents and stakeholders.

Citizen participation, central to the planning process, was

strong. In an effort to maximize public input, the planning

team cast a wide net of outreach opportunities including inter-