Disputed footbridge reemerges

Thousands cross the busy highway on game and event days, and the proposed overhead bridge is seen as a way to alleviate risk while linking thousands of potential technology park employees with shops and restaurants across the street.

Like other shopping centers across the region, the sprawling mall with its 1.3 million square feet of upscale retail, dining, and entertainment options has been hit hard by the recession, Town Manager Kevin Paicos said.

“But putting 5,000 people across the street would be a boon to them,’’ he said. “And the town would love it. We’re all over it.’’

The significant pluses to building the bridge begin with enhanced safety and the regional economic benefit of creating thousands of high-end jobs, said Paicos. “And, third, the tax revenue for the town would be enormous and has the potential to stabilize our tax base for decades to come.’’

The Kraft Group submitted a plan to the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in 2009 for close to 1.5 million square feet of office buildings and about 150,000 square feet of retail space on 146 acres across from its stadium.

That included a request for $9 million in federal stimulus funding for the footbridge, which would measure 8 yards by 45 yards, with elevators on each side. It would be maintained by the company.

Once word about the project got out, though, the protests flew - especially after the proposed bridge beat out other initiatives like roadwork in Canton and Braintree. Kraft Group owner Robert Kraft, one of the world’s billionaires according to Forbes magazine, was pilloried for looking to build a private walkway with public funds.

In an interview, Paicos said the goal of the stimulus funding program was to boost select private projects with public money, but the initial bridge proposal had two fatal flaws, at least in the eyes of the public.

“There was a perception that it would only link properties owned by the Krafts, who would be the only ones to benefit, and that it was 100 percent public money,’’ Paicos said.