Kids & Family

Universal Steel Parking Lot to Open in Salem Oct. 24

Salem's new parking lot on Bridge Street will open to the public Thursday, Oct. 24.

The 120-space temporary surface parking lot at the former Universal Steel site, 297 Bridge St., will open to the public on Thursday, Oct. 24, the city announced Wednesday.

Parking in the lot, which is located a short distance from the Salem MBTA commuter rail station and the downtown, will be free, with just one exception.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Oct. 26, and 27, and at noon on Oct. 31, Halloween, volunteers from the Salem High School music program will be at the lot collecting $15 per car for parking on Oct. 26th and 27th and $20 per car for parking on Oct. 31.

All of the proceeds will go to the band’s efforts to raise $100,000 by February 1st to pay for drums, uniforms, and instruments.

On all other dates the lot will still be free to park. The adjacent lot, formerly Alpha Auto Sales at 295 Bridge Street, is also available for parking and was leased this Spring by the City to provide an additional 30 spaces. Parking in that lot will also be at $15 per car for the Salem High School band on the dates listed above, $20 per car on Halloween, and otherwise is free.

The City of Salem worked in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to dismantle the abandoned factory on the Universal Steel parcel, remediate the lot, and pave it for parking. The City’s long term goal is to sell the lot for development and a return to the tax rolls, once the nearby MBTA parking garage project is complete in late 2014.

“I am very happy that we will finally be able to open the Universal Steel parking lot,”  Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll said in a prepared statement. “I am also happy to be able to join with the Salem High School band and support their worthwhile efforts to raise funds for their instruments and uniforms. While I know many people, including me, would have liked to have seen this lot open a few months ago, the level of contamination and the parcel’s location in a flood plain hampered EPA and DEP’s efforts to remediate it in a more timely fashion. Nevertheless it is now cleared, cleaned, and paved, and ready for parking on October 24th.”


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