Bank Street Armory fate remains tabled by Fall River City Council

In another chapter in what seems to be the endless saga surrounding the Bank Street Armory, the Fall River City Council was unable to move forward on the agenda item relating to the future of the iconic city building.

Listed as number one on the Priority Matters portion of last night’s city council agenda, the “Mayor and order for the Bank Street Armory Proposal Review and Recommendation (resubmittal) (tabled 10-24-2023)” remained tabled as the council did not have a quorum to vote on the matter. Councilors Leo Pellitier and Pam Laliberte were not present last night, a snag in the process that would have required two-thirds vote on the item placed before the council.

As previously reported by Fall River Reporter, the proposed project by local developer Alan Macomber had the stamp of approval from Mayor Paul Coogan, who supported the sale of the property to Macomber for $200,000 to convert the building into 37 market rate apartments. The project would see an investment of over $13 million from Macomber and his company Main Street Property, LLC, if it ever gets council approval.

Former city council candidate Alexander Silva, a proponent for historical preservation of the property, was in attendance at last night’s meeting and was not surprised the item remained tabled.

“I had heard that Leo and Pam would not be here tonight and they would not have the number of councilors present to act on this,” said Silva

Silva has spoken publicly during his campaign about his disappointment in the way some councilors have voted to date on the issue, including Linda Pereira’s questioning of the process surrounding the council voting on the project and if the vote was even legal.

City Council President Joe Camara, leaving the meeting and speaking with Silva, said that some people questioned why the armory was even on the agenda if Pelletier and Laliberte were not present.

“I didn’t know they weren’t coming to the meeting when I wrote the agenda. I knew Pam had surgery and she wasn’t coming,” stated Camara. Camara also claims that when Pelletier heard Laliberte would not be at the meeting, Pelletier stated he would not attend so there “would be no vote” on the project.