Mysterious Mountain Park Site Construction Under Wraps 

The mysterious activity witnessed at the old Mountain Park site next to The Whiting Reservoir entrance, and across the Rt.91 overpass bridge has been mostly dump-trucks coming and going, and some visible site-clearing.  Looking over the fence across the bumpy cracked asphalt parking lot remaining from the former amusement park--closed in 1987, a visitor might well wonder what the heck the new owner, Eric Suher, is up to. Over time, the sign reading, "See you in the summer of '07 - Mountain Park" disappeared and with it some of Holyoke's initial enthusiasm for the furtive project.

    The Northampton music venue mogul, owner of the Calvin, Pearl Street, and the Iron Horse, is suspected of pursuing an outdoor music venue here at the Holyoke site.  Mayor Michael Sullivan confirmed his suspicion in an interview broadcast at Masslive.com, saying that Suher's site plans appeared to be drawings of an out-door music theater, with small food vending services.  The site drawing reminded the Mayor of  Tanglewood or something like the Pines outdoor theater in Northampton.  However, the Mayor pointed out, the site plans showed no major building construction and had therefore not required building permits or zoning approval.  This fact lends to the relative mystery around the future of the Mountain Park Site, since the owner faced no need to outline the extent of his plans--as he would have been required to do in a city building permit application.

    Expansion of Suher's music business to Holyoke could be a real boon for the city, as the Mountain Park Site has held a special place in the local community for generations.    In fact, before it was an amusement park, one of the first uses of the mountain site --outside of being a "scenic cow pasture," was an  outdoor stage opened for music and acts in 1894.  Later an opera house was added.   Harkening back to the past, Suher shows signs of doing  to Mountain Park what he has done in the real estate markets of Northampton and Holyoke: restoring old properties to their former elegance in accordance with their architectural heritage: like Northampton's Calvin Theater building and the current renovation of The First Baptist Church.

    Suher controls well over one million square feet of  real estate space,  including a multi-million dollar silkscreen printing company in Holyoke (ES-Sports), and besides Mountain Park, he's been clearing the empty lot at the corner of Hampden and Pleasant Street.   Development of this empty lot corralled by Grace United Church of  Christ, People's Bank, and Eddies Furniture commenced with bulldozing soil from one side to the other.  This site clearing was carried out  in accordance with a sale agreement that called for commencement of development by October.  Suher holds a number of other buildings, in both Northampton and Holyoke, with plans for development and restoration.  

    Suher's initial Mountain Park actions  portend investment, and Holyoke improvement, but the slow pace of development coupled with silent mystery are not yet equaling dollar signs.    

                                                                                   

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