Historic Downtown Quincy, MA

Reroute a Storm Drain

The City of Quincy, MA is 300 years old. It’s the birthplace of former U.S. Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, as well as statesman John Hancock, fourth and longest serving President of the Continental Congress. It has an important place in history.

Reviving the historic downtown district of Quincy as a thriving center of commerce is no small undertaking. Stephen Chrusciel was brought into the project to establish and implement a development strategy, including the vetting and hiring of a vast consultancy team and managing the work. Chrusciel worked closely with city personnel over a six year period and navigated numerous city, state, and federal agencies. His charge: Ensure that the $1.6B project—the third largest redevelopment project in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, totaling over 3.5 million square feet across 55 acres—was successfully permitted at the local, state and federal levels. Mission accomplished.

Along the way there were other important charges, such as the relocation of a storm water conveyance referred to as “Town Brook.” In essence, it was a 1,700 foot underground pipe constructed in sections, spanning work done from the 1890’s through the 1970’s which actually ran under existing buildings on private property. There were documented flooding problems, a decrease in fish spawning and, perhaps most serious, the classification of the Town Brook as an “impaired waterway” by the MA DEP due to high levels of pathogens.

Stephen Chrusciel hired a team to design a highly complex and detailed plan to reroute the storm drain away from private property and above ground for accessibility. He was also tasked with getting the project permitted which meant working with numerous agencies including the MA Department of Environmental Protection, Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, MA Division of Marine Fisheries and the Quincy Department of Public Works.

The project cost of $12 million was fully funded. It was subjected to five levels of appeals and prevailed each time. Once complete, the project was successfully completed and has been extremely well received.

Ultimately, the construction of the Quincy Center project was put on hold due to a number of factors—not the least of which was rapidly escalating construction costs. The Chrusciel Group has been recently brought in as an advisor to investors who are working to re-activate components of the project. The goal is to get construction back on track so that the City may ultimately realize its vision—a vibrant downtown positioned to retake its rightful place among the foremost urban centers of Massachusetts.