Vinal Square committee targets May 2 for first North Chelmsford spring festival

CHELMSFORD -- January 12, 2026, Chelmsford's Vinal Square committee aims for a May 2 spring festival and hears a preview of a $1.5 million Main Street redesign. At the January 12 meeting of the Vinal Square Strategic Action Plan Committee, members settled on Saturday, May 2 as a tentative target date for a family-friendly community event in North Chelmsford, with concurrent activities proposed at Vinal Square and the Chelmsford Mills building, including possible vendor booths, a kids' parade, and a touch-a-truck display; committee members Brian Creamer and Bill Gillette will work with event organizer Ben to refine the plan. DPW Director Christine Clancy briefed the committee on a $195,000 design study by consultant GPI covering roughly one and a half miles of Main Street between School Street and Groton Road, with a three-phase construction cost estimated at $1.5 million and no funding yet secured. Planning Board Chair Crystal Valley presented an informational update on a proposal to rezone industrial parcels near the Chelmsford Mills to the newly created Commercial Business Light district, a zoning article headed for a public hearing before spring Town Meeting. A resident's question about paint colors on a Vinal Square restaurant prompted Town Planner Evan Bolesky to confirm that no exterior-appearance regulations currently apply to the area.