Karp "a little more bullish" on waterfront hotel

Well, of course, since I was in Tyngsboro last night, I was not at the main event. That would be Karp speaking at the Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. Not that I was invited, or would have paid to go, in any case.

This first paragraphs in the Daily News story say a lot (in fact, they're the only paragraphs that really say anything at all):

GEORGETOWN — Developer Stephen Karp yesterday signaled that his company is moving forward with plans for a hotel along the Merrimack River, saying the firm, Newburyport Development, has "become more aggressive" in that area since his last visit to the city in March.

Karp said the main catalyst is the result of a market study of Newburyport regarding a hotel. He said in most cases, such a study would compare similar businesses, but none exist in the area, which caused the company doing the study to underestimate the potential.

"I think we are becoming a little more bullish on it," he said.

Since I thought he was pretty bullish about a hotel when he was in the city in March, I really have no clue what this means.

Unless, of course, he backed off when a study confirmed that the city could not support a hotel, but now he's discovered that big meetings/events have to be held at the Georgetown Country Club?

Well, I'll tell you, I've been to a lot of Chamber of Commerce meetings, gala events and whatnot for the Merrimack Valley Magazine in the last few months and only one of them was NOT held at a country club in a neighboring town. That one was held at a hotel outside of Andover, just off 495.

Not that we shouldn't have a big fancy function space here, since we're so convenient to everywhere else and all and we have those big, wide streets and ample parking ... oh, right, he's willing to work with the city on parking.

Did I mention that when I went to the YWCA of Greater Lawrence event a couple of weeks ago, held at the Andover Country Club, it took me almost a half an hour to drive a half mile because of the traffic jam from attendees exiting the country club? If not, I'm telling you now ...

That event I went to last night was at a country club in Tyngsboro (it was a Lowell event). I did not stay until the end so I don't know what the traffic was like afterwards. But the parking lot was jammed when I left, so I can only shudder at the thought.

Let's get real. You have a function space that holds 400-500 people, you've got at a minimum 350 extra cars navigating the narrow streets of Newburyport. Parking is not the only issue here.

Most rational communities apparently understand this phenomenon and use country clubs that are in a more rural setting for big meetings, galas, and whatnot.

Hey, but you know what? Amesbury has a lot of empty land that is very convenient to 495. Why not build something there, New England Development? A nice big golf course with a nice big country club.