"WORCESTER" a Worcester Travel Page by kumachan200x

Worcester was established as a town on June 14, 1722 and as a city on February 29, 1848. Worcester is located in Central Massachusetts approximately 45 miles west of Boston, has a population of 172,648 and is the third largest city in New England. Worcester has evolved into an education, medical and research center. Worcester, MA is the home of nine colleges and universities, the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and the Massachusetts Bio-Technology Research Park.

Union Station
A bit of history

Union Station at night
Initially constructed in 1911, Union Station enjoyed decades of activity until the railroad industry began its decline. In 1975, Union Station's owner abandoned the building and for the subsequent twenty years the building deteriorated. Acquired by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority in 1995, the station underwent a complete renovation - restoring the building to its former majestic splendor and grand reopening in July 2000. Complete with the Grand Hall's original elliptical stained-glass ceilings, interior marble columns and mahogany wood trim, today Union Station is often called the City's most beautiful building.

The City has designated an Arts District zone overlay along Main Street from Madison and Chandler Street to Hammond Street. The Arts District is a public/private partnership project intended to revitalize a disinvested area of the City by promoting the reuse of several underutilized and vacant properties that would be suitable for artist live/work space, performance venues, college centers, cafes and eateries, art supply shops, galleries and other creative commercial and retail enterprises. The successful development of the Arts District and the creation of a major destination point for the region is one of the City's seven highest development priorities and is also one of the four major goals of Worcester's cultural community. Worcester boasts 40 cultural institutions, several of international stature, and hundreds of artists and arts faculty at the City's colleges, providing a strong foundation for the Arts District.

The Arts District is .6-miles in length, going one block back from Main Street, and is anchored by Clark University and City Hall. Noting the historical character of the District, there are eight buildings within the District listed on the National Register of Historic Places and there exists several others eligible for listing. In March 2000, ARTSWorcester moved its offices to the Aurora Hotel in the Arts District and currently occupies 2,600 square feet on two floors. The Fall 2001 opening of a 27,000 square foot community supermarket and cash & carry operation, and the recent announcement of the purchase and redevelopment plans of the adjoining Odd Fellows building are the first projects to launch the District. These projects represent over $6 million in investment, the creation of 50 new jobs and 24 new units of mixed-income housing.