GREENFIELD — More than 20 years ago, local and state officials gathered on Chapman Street for a groundbreaking that one former lawmaker hailed as a “milestone in the community.” 

Less than three years later, money for the project — Greenfield Community Television’s new 8,100-square-foot television studio — ran dry. The property changed hands and construction crews cleared out, leaving behind only the early stages of the studio’s foundation — an immense hole in the ground. 

To this day, the large, fenced-in foundation and hole greets passersby, denoting the location of the failed construction project from the early 2000s. Vines cling to the concrete foundation walls and small trees have sprouted at its base. Though largely spared as a trash receptacle, a collection of bottles and cans have found their way into the abandoned pit, as has a grocery store shopping cart.

But with plans on the horizon for a new development, the abandoned project is getting some renewed attention. 

In recent months, residents have quite literally applauded the news, on multiple occasions, that the notorious landmark would soon be filled in as part of proposed plans to relocate and expand Green Fields Market into the first floor of the former Wilson’s Department Store and turn the upper floors into mixed-income rental apartments. The market is operated by the Franklin Community Co-op.

The design currently proposes 65 apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, some of which will be located in the building’s historic portion while others will be included in new construction toward the back of the building along Chapman Street.

“Thank you for filling in the hole,” Planning Board member Amy McMahan said at a recent meeting with planners for the redevelopment project, a comment met with the laughter of agreement from others. 

In November 2022, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner announced that the city worked in partnership with the Franklin Community Co-op on The Community Builders and MassDevelopment’s acquisition of the former Wilson’s Department Store, which includes the land with the hole in the ground. Wilson’s Department Store, which was one of the last independent, family-owned department stores in the country, closed in January 2020, shortly after Kevin O’Neil, former president of the 137-year-old retail store, announced his plans to retire. 

“If we bought the property and just filled in the hole, there would be support,” Franklin Community Co-op General Manager John Williams said in response to McMahan’s comment. 

Conversations on the land at 13 Chapman St. date back to 2001, when GCTV bought the parcel from the town for $1, according to the Recorder archives. The lot was previously home to the former Showplace Theater, which had fallen into disrepair and was later demolished by the town.  

In addition to the 8,100-square-foot television studio, GCTV’s “Victoria Studios” included plans for a classroom, an internet cafe and a low-wattage radio station. The nonprofit also planned to rent office space on the second floor.

In August 2002, the project’s groundbreaking was hailed as a “milestone in the history of the community” by former state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg. After building the foundation for the two-story television studio, however, the nonprofit ran out of money, delaying progress on construction. 

Despite multiple efforts by the nonprofit to raise money, plans for the studio fell through. By October 2005, the town had started the process of taking over the property. The Town Council authorized then-Mayor Christine Forgey to take back the property, and shortly afterward, Greenfield bought the property back from GCTV for $1. 

“In 2008, one of the first things I did was put out a request for proposals for someone to do something with 13 Chapman St.,” recalled Planning and Development Director Eric Twarog, referring to the lot with the abandoned foundation. “We had a response, and it was American House LLC, which is Kevin O’Neil, the owner of Wilson’s.”

O’Neil previously said he had plans to turn the store’s upper floors into a 62-room hotel and banquet hall, but after several years of working with a developer, the developer decided to go in a different direction. 

“I knew I wouldn’t be up to managing the store and a hotel,” he told The Recorder in 2019. “I think there’s a real need for it, but someone else is going to have to do it.”

And now, 21 years later, plans for the site are once again in the works. According to the current design, the existing foundation, which is too old to be reused, will be demolished. Above ground, in the place of the giant hole, will be the entry way to the apartments, Twarog explained. Williams told Planning Board members earlier this month that he hopes to start construction on the grocery store within a year. Construction on the housing portion, meanwhile, will happen in subsequent years. 

“I think I echo everyone’s sentiment,” said Twarog, whose job as director began with finding a way to address the Chapman Street hole. “People are tired of walking by a hole in the ground … It’ll be beautiful when you walk by that street now when it gets done.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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