PEABODY — There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Tom Rossignoll, the newly elected president of Peabody Main Streets.
The city councilor succeeds Deanne Healey as the leader of PMS, a grassroots organization that works to cultivate Peabody’s downtown as a desirable place to live, an enjoyable place to visit and a supportive place to build profitable businesses.
Healey is staying on board as the group’s treasurer.
“When Deanne stepped down in January, I decided to throw my hat into the ring,” Rossignoll said. “I had been involved for three or four years, so I thought it might be a good time to get more involved. Deanne has done such a great job that I told everyone one of my goals was not to do anything to upend the good work she has done, and with Deanne staying involved as treasurer, PMS is in good hands.”
Last week, Rossignoll presided over Peabody Main Street’s annual goal-setting and planning meeting.
“The purpose of that meeting is to review what we did the previous year and set goals for the upcoming year,” said Rossignoll. “Last year, obviously, we were in the middle of a pandemic so some of the goals we had for last year will be continued this year, but the vibe was definitely upbeat.
“Overall, we will be looking to do more to promote the downtown area via the internet with more virtual-type events as opposed to things we have been doing pre-pandemic, like pop-up pubs and the like.”
Rossignoll said the Promotions subcommittee’s goal for this year is to enhance the organization’s online presence.
“None of their usual events like the pop-up pubs happened last year,” Rossignoll said. “We are developing a new, enhanced website (to) make our virtual presence really stand out in a bunch of different ways. We think it’s appropriate to do that now.”
Peabody City Councilor Tom Gould and North Shore Bank Vice President of Marketing Chris Pesce serve as co-chairs of the Promotions subcommittee.
The Economic Vitality and Development subcommittee, chaired by city Director of Planning and Community Development Curt Bellavance, and MRG Construction Management President Matt Genzale, has several goals on its agenda, including transportation, particularly with a proposed pilot trolley service connecting downtown Peabody to Salem, as well as downtown development matters.
“The idea is to find ways to make it easier for people to get to the downtown area,” Rossignoll said. “The current bus lines don’t make sense as they are antiquated and basically amount to getting to and from malls. The trolley will be fantastic to be able to get from Peabody to the Salem train station. The idea is to show the need and spur the state to add a train line downtown in Peabody.
“People need to get in and out of Boston, so expanding service to Salem will be vital. Not being able to take public transportation to Salem makes getting to Boston that much more difficult. We already have a train line in place so our hope is that the trolley project will prove the need to have a train service.”
One project Rossignoll hopes will be in place soon is a plan that would aim to identify small businesses interested in moving downtown.
“We want to be ready when businesses relocate or shut down and have businesses already in the queue that are ready to move in,” said Rossignoll. “That would make everybody’s businesses stronger, knowing space will remain active with no downtime.”
Other priorities include the ongoing $12 million Central Street renovation and the proposed Riverwalk project.
“We’ve been looking at the Central Street design for some time, as we want to make sure it’s in line with the downtown,” Rossignoll said, adding he hopes “the shovel will be in the ground in late 2022 or early 2023. The project is close to 75 percent design feasibility, so it’s close.”
The Design subcommittee, chaired by Rossignoll and fellow City Councilor Peter McGinn, is focused on using a $75,000 grant to add new lighting to trees and overhead fixtures in the downtown area, which Rossignoll said will enhance the unique beauty and architectural details of many buildings. Other priorities include helping the area maintain, and in some cases, improve the character of the downtown area to reflect its unique identity.
“We are also working to make sure that the Central Street and Riverwalk projects are designed to extend the unique character of the downtown area to these projects as well,” Rossignoll said. “Things like lighting and architectural details we want to flow from the downtown into these areas so everything has uniformity with similar attributes and that everything is in line with the downtown.”