The developers who restored Union Station in Burlington are planning an $8 million, village-like complex at College and Lake streets that includes a 21-room inn, a sports bar, a performing arts theater and a two-screen movie theater.

The three-story, 66,800-square-foot complex would be wedged into the steep bank at the edge of Battery Park. The project is slated for Zoning Board review Monday and a sketch plan review by the Planning Commission on Thursday.

It could move through the city planning process early next year, Assistant Planning Director Ken Lerner said.

If developers Melinda Moulton and Lisa Steele of Main Street Landing Co. break ground this spring, as they hope, the complex would open by September 2001, Moulton said.
The building would be erected on what is now a parking lot at the northeast corner of College and Lake streets.

Retail shops would be filled with local merchants, if possible, and the televisions in the sports bar could be powered by solar panels. The movie theater would be devoted to showing independent films. An on-site wastewater treatment facility would naturally cleanse wastewater from the project and reuse it in toilet bowls and for watering plants.


"Lisa and I are completely devoted to sustainability," Moulton said. "We've always been committed to that." Although still in the early stages of the planning process, the project has been well-received by city planners.

"The main issues I see are traffic and how it interfaces with the park," Lerner said.

The developers plan to add 18,000 square feet to the park when they fill the space between the building and the park, Moulton said. The upper floor of the building would be accessible from Battery Park.

Pedestrians would be able to walk through the development in several places to enjoy overlooks and walk or ride an elevator down to the Lake Street level.

City planning guidelines would require 224 parking spaces, but Moulton said she hopes to avoid building that much parking and instead take advantage of existing parking in the area, including the Union Station lot, which is owned by Main Street Landing.

Plans call for building 50 spaces to the north of the project, beside the inn. The Union Station lot has 100 spaces and additional parking could be created to the north on Lake Street on vacant land owned by Main Street Landing, Moulton said.

This is not the first project proposed at the site. Developer Barry Mossman, who has built luxury townhouses on Lake Street, just to the north, once proposed an office complex with a parking garage.

Conflicts with city planners slowed the project and eventually Mossman's option on the property ran out. Main Street Landing Co. owns the property.

Architect Colin Lindberg, who designed the project, said he designed the building to be traditional and conservative. Materials are likely to be brick and stone with copper for the roof.

"What we're trying to do is use materials that are not too new and slick," Lindberg said.

The project fits the type of construction the city hopes to encourage along the waterfront, by converting a vacant lot to a four-season attraction. Community and Economic Development Director Michael Monte said.

Burlington resident Doug Dunbebin said he liked the sound of the project, except for the sports bar. "I feel like we've go too many bars in town," said Dunbebin, who was riding on the bike path Friday.

But the arts movie theater sounded like a great idea to him as long as the project blends in with the architecture of the area.

-Burlington Free Press Dec.4, 1999