Letter: A Boutique Hotel for Old Sparks Lot

Editor's note: This letter is in response to Melrose Patch's first "Visions for Vacancies" column that .

To the editor:

That spot is a gateway to the City's business district, just as picturesque Ell Pond is to the North.

There is great potential to elevate Melrose to both a business and lodging destination as we are perfectly located between Routes 1, 93, and 128, not to mention the MBTA rail line.

Seven miles north of Boston is no more than a 10-minute ride (unless you're on a mo-ped!)

Paraphrasing from our website, "Melrose is a desirable compromise between the crowded metropolis of Boston and the frontier of rural exurbia (whatever that means), with exquisite Victorian homes dating from the late 1800s"

Attractions?

• Very easy into the City of Boston (with or without a vehicle)

• We have first-class dining, bakeries, a local hardware, and unique shops

• It’s a great base camp for New England coastline and beaches 

• The 83-year old Melrose Symphony Orchestra

• Victorian downtown area that dates back to 1900

• Ell Pond

• Two golf courses, Pine Banks Park, and a state-of-the-art baseball facility

• We are bordered by 2500 acre of Middlesex Fells Reservation and Spot Pond

• Two observation towers, scenic views of Boston, many vernal pools, and a zoo. A zoo! Who has that?

What else is close by you ask?

• Kelly's World Famous Roast Beef, creator of the roast beef sandwich in 1951 (and by the way, has been featured on Food Network's $40 a Day with Rachael Ray, PBS Special “Sandwiches You Will Like”, Saturday Night Live and in Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's movie, Good Will Hunting)

• We have cows that stand perfectly still, an orange dinosaur (which is also very stealth), a restaurant featuring twitterpated owls and ... well you know

• Ruins of a once thriving Chinese palace

• Topsfield Fair, oldest in the country (Munroe was President, the fourth guy after Washington!)

Why wouldn't we want to attract Boston visitors to lodge, shop, and dine here?  

To answer the very simple question, “What to do with the Sparks lot?” with a long answer.

Build a small boutique hotel with a Victorian Era influenced design.

Michael Dell Isola
Garfield Road