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LUNENBURG, MA-The roller coaster has been torn down and the antique carousel auctioned off, but despite the demise of Whalom Park, its history is far from over. The 30-acre amusement park will be transformed this spring into Emerald Place; 240 condominium units with up to 12,000 sf of commercial space by Global Property Development Corp.
The Bridgewater developer which purchased the vintage park in 2003 plans to create an upscale, resort-style community on the lakefront site that will reflect its early history. The park is located about a half-mile from Route 2 in Lunenberg.
"We tried to come up with a design that would resemble its early days as an English park," Carl Pearson, vice president of Global Property, tells GlobeSt.com. Hingham-based architecture firm Strekalovsky Architecture Inc. and Global Property Development put together a plan to develop townhouse and condominium units, known as Emerald Place at Lake Whalom, around the lake's shoreline.
With interconnecting walking paths and a lakefront beach house, the $80 million to $100 million gated community will pay tribute to its historic past with tableaus of photographs taken during the park's heyday scattered throughout the grounds. "The park's past will continue," Pearson says. "We've done quite a bit to make this special."
The condominium units ranging from 1,200 sf to about 2,000 sf, all with water views, will be developed in phases beginning this spring and should be sold out within 36 to 40 months of completion at prices ranging from the mid-$200,000s to $600,000. Pearson says he expects the retail portion of the site to include a bank, restaurant, convenience store and other service-oriented shops.
Located 45 miles west of Boston, Whalom Park opened in 1893 when its owners built the Rose Garden dance hall on the lake's shore. By the early 1900s, a carousel and other rides were added and in 1939 its wooden roller coaster called the Flyer Comet was built.
In the mid-1980s the park could no longer compete with larger attractions, such as Six Flags, in nearby Agawam. In 2000, the park was shut down for good. Last week the final remnant of the park's past, its roller coaster, was torn down to make way for Emerald Place.
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