City of Somerville is trying to sell Day-Herbert parking lot to a hotel developer

[ron_newman]

The City of Somerville is taking bids from hotel developers to buy the public metered parking lot at Day and Herbert Streets, where a weekly farmers' market now operates every Wednesday from mid-May through late November.

As far as I can tell, the city has established no public process whatsoever to involve the neighborhood. They are holding a "pre-bidder's conference" on Tuesday, January 15 at 11 am at the northeast corner of the parking lot. They have not advertised the meeting at all to local residents, but it's open to the public. I urge any interested neighbors to show up and make clear that the city needs to include us in the land disposition process.

I found these two documents on the city web site:
Request for Proposals RFP #13-53: Davis Square Hotel Project
Legal Notice: RFP #13-53 = Davis Square Hotel Project

Also, here's an earlier City of Somerville page about a Davis Square Hotel, from when the city last tried to interest hotel developers in 2009. This page includes a Hotel Demand Study written in 2007.

[My own personal position: this could be good for Davis Square, but it needs to be designed sensitively, not tower over the rest of the neighborhood, and not present a blank wall to either Day or Herbert street. It's also essential to find a new nearby location for the farmers' market.]

ETA: An earlier discussion of this topic from February 2007.

Explosion?

[purgatori84.livejournal.com]

Did anyone else hear/see anything at 3:55am? I heard a kind of popping sound that woke me up, then a really low, loud rumble that made my house vibrate. This was followed by a fire truck heading toward Ball, and cops talking to a lady outside my place talking about a white light :/

space rental for a first birthday party?

[veek.livejournal.com]

My babe is turning one. I invited a bunch of people, and got WAY more yes-RSVPs than I was expecting. Exciting! And potentially challenging to fit ~35 people into my apartment.

I've looked through the archives but can't find anything: is there a good space to invite that many people (some of them children) for a couple of hours, that'll let us bring food and non-alcoholic drinks? And cost less than the $250 that Together in Motion costs on a weekend?

I know, hope springs etc. But thought I'd ask.