Location and visibility, norbie. Think of it this way, and I'll let Snives speak to the core mapping project and its logistics ... if we've seen past trends over the last two plus generations, it's been the withering of downtown businesses in the face of more available alternatives on the fringes of town, but closer to highways to enable broader access to folks not within walking distance of a downtown hotspot. If downtown Titletown is withering, it's probably in large part due to being "out of sight, out of mind" to all but UNH students and resident townies. I think we can all agree that the lack of parking in the downtown core is not welcoming to outsiders, whereas a site out at the far end of Main St. out and around Channel 11 and the agricultural areas would not only have the opportunity for a lot of additional parking, BUT also added visibility to out of towners who might be trekking along Route 4. If you're a Concord pol, for example, if you're coming to UNH, this is the first area you see from the highway. Right now, there's very little activity you can see from Route 4, except a smokestack, a stadium and barns. This project will change that.
I also think you're underestimating the growth of some of the surrounding communities, starting with Dover but also including places like Barrington, Epping, Northwoods, Lee and Newmarket. Before we landed in Effingwoods, we spent a decade plus in Dover, and even while it was beginning to grow back then, its continued growth as an extension of the Portsmouth/Pease hub is a huge factor in the area, and if the core project can embed a certain amount of sustained business activity, I think the surrounding communities will cap that off nicely as an alternative to the hustle and bustle (and cost) of downtown Portsmouth, an avoidance of Rochester (which has ambitious plans developing along Route 11), and the probable gap caused from the demise of the Fox Run Mall before the Torrington folks get up and running with their Seacoast Landing megaproject. The latter situation is both the opportunity (i.e. it'll probably be another 5 years until they completely build out Seacoast Landing at the old Fox run site), but also the need for urgency in acting on these UNH West Campus plans.
Maybe not Tuscan Village ... but as a concept, I'm pretty sure I've advocated on here before about a possible "Wildcat Village" before, and this may be tentative first steps towards such a vision. More competitive Hockey and Football (and Soccer?) programs wouldn't hurt in filling some of that hotel space in season ... if this was me in charge of such a project, I'd take a satchel of NIL money with me down to North Carolina and get our former Men's Soccer coach to head up this project, what with it being in his own hometown, and with the potential lure of money (and growth beyond sports) in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ...
If you're gonna dream, you might as well dream big. And then we can move along to the "NH Beanpot" project next ,,,
www.nhpr.org
