Mayor Gary Christenson. Photo from 2016-2017 Blue & Gold archives.
These past couple of weeks, Mayor Gary Christenson and the Malden Officials have moved into temporary workplaces in preparation of the demolition of the old City Hall on 200 Pleasant St. The new building consists of different departments; Human Resources, Malden Redevelopment Authority, Mayor’s Office and others in another temporary workplace up on 110 Pleasant St. This past summer, 2 or 3 departments relocated out of City Hall into temporary buildings for the time being. The building is right next to the new Chinese Restaurant Ming’s Seafood. Although Mayors Christenson’s office is a lot smaller than his old one, he thinks that it was ¨perfect¨ and that space wasn’t important to him, but more of trying to ¨revitalize the downtown area [not what it once was back in the 60s or 70s]”
The demolition of the old City Hall will start up in February of 2017. Mayor Christenson said that main aspect of the development is to, “reconnect Pleasant Street, so it will go straight through¨ to make it easier for people to travel in and out to get to Malden Square. It will take about four months for the demolition before the building process starts up.” Christensen noted that the project had an overall worth of a hundred and twenty-five million dollars. The construction is expected to be completed in the year of 2019.
Mayor Christenson mentioned that the Police Station is also in process of being torn down. It will be in a more central-like position in the town. He described that it was a main component in the project since they couldn’t temporarily move the inmates. A benefit of the station removal is that it will create more parking opportunities for the residents or people who want to visit. The Malden Teen Enrichment Center will also play a huge as it will be the new location for public meetings for the School Committee and City Council.
As the project unravels, Mayor Christenson hopes that this new establishment of the city hall is “something that people can be proud of” and describes as a “shot in the arm for [you know] one of the most important areas in our city.¨ As Christenson would like to say to future colleagues, “in life, hard work and dedication will always be the tendency of success.”
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