Downtown Keystone site development plans move forward

NEW BEDFORD — A Boston-based real estate firm has agreed to buy the Union Street site of the former Keystone Building that collapsed in 2004, was torn down and has since left an ugly hole in the heart of downtown.

Mayor Scott W. Lang is scheduled to announce today that an agreement has been reached with Weston Associates Inc. to purchase the property from Denis Keohane.

The announcement is important because the site is highly visible and, since the building was demolished [read more]
 

  Ferries buoyed by weak U.S. dollar

NEW BEDFORD — The weakness of the dollar is promising strong returns for local ferry operators this year as European travelers are signing on in record numbers to take the fast ferry to Martha's Vineyard.

Michael Glasfeld, president of New England Fast Ferry, which operates out of State Pier, said the expectation is that the season that begins June 20 will be good for the ferry service.

"Our advance bookings are up over what they were last year," Mr. Glasfeld said. "A couple of weeks [read more]
 

  Reborn flight training school set for takeoff in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD — Less than a year after the Delta Connection Academy shut down, Bridgewater State College and the New Bedford Regional Airport formally announced a bigger, better student flight training program to open this fall at the airfield.

At a ceremony in the airport Terminal Building Tuesday morning, college President Dana Mohler-Faria, Mayor Scott W. Lang, Airport Manager Edward DeWitt and others said the pullout of Delta last August turned out to be to their collective advantage. [read more]
 

  Hub of historic district rises from the ashes

NEW BEDFORD — Ten years ago, a fire raged through the historic Corson Building, causing the roof to cave in and leaving little more than charred beams and shattered glass.

On the morning after the September 1997 blaze, the structure was a blackened shell in danger of collapse, its future anything but certain.

Yet, thanks to a sustained effort over the past decade, the William Street building will soon begin a new chapter in its long history, rising from the ashes to serve  [read more]
 

  A Decade Later, "Brownfields" Law Transforming Landscape

BOSTON  --  Growing up in New Bedford, Henry Wainer remembers driving past the old Alden Corrugated Container Company on trips out of the city. Then one day, the single-story cardboard box factory burned.

The city bulldozed what remained and -- in the lingo of urban planning -- added one more "brownfield" to its landscape, an abandoned, likely polluted empty lot with dim prospects of being redeveloped any time soon.

New Bedford wasn't alone. As industries left [read more]

  New Bedford Pedicab launches service this spring

Any day now, somewhere in New Bedford, you will be stuck in traffic, and crossing your path will be a biker. Not just any biker, but one that is pedaling their way downtown with two happy non-car-driving passengers in tow.

"I am very into the idea of low-tech," Kenneth said. New Bedford Pedicab, a locally focused, environmentally responsible business will be launched by Kenneth and Colleen Sutliffe this spring.

And low-tech is the idea indeed.  [read more]