Modern fueling complex to offer fast charging stations for EVs, healthy fast food and an EV learning center

NORTHAMPTON—Developer Bruce Volz will open a carefully crafted, modern fueling station, called DC Station, at 5 Fulton Ave., on Oct. 4, providing 10 fast, Level 3 charging ports for electric vehicles and a place for drivers to grab a fast cup of good coffee or healthy meal while they wait.

The station—named DC for Direct Current—will also offer a learning hub, EV Base Camp, for those interested in EVs. The grounds will be landscaped with native plants to support local ecosystems and biodiversity. An array of solar panels will cover the charging stations to help defray the cost of the electricity.

“I’m a person who is concerned about the environment and wanted to do something that could have a direct impact,” Volz said, explaining he hopes to prove there is a need for a well-designed, efficient-to-operate, modern, electric fueling station that serves good coffee and food.  

Volz seeks tenants for DC Station to join in this enterprise, in particular, a coffee house or café to serve customers from early morning to afternoon, and a casual restaurant, such as a pizza or taco house, that would be open until later in the evening. Anyone interested in leasing should contact Volz’s realtor, Ben Bolotin at Region Commercial in West Springfield at ben@regionco.com or 413-415-1200.  

Volz began his professional life as a designer and builder of high-end custom wood furniture. In 1991, he and a colleague, Tony Clarke, launched Volz, Clarke & Associates in One Cottage Street in Easthampton. The firm soon shortened its name to VCA and developed a national reputation, known for the highest-quality custom furniture and architectural millwork. 

The business sold to Metrica in 2023 with all 48 employees retained.

As a side project, Volz also developed an award-winning, four-unit residential condominium project, designed by Jones Whitsett Architects, on Grove Street in 2016.  The project was conceived to prove the concept that modern design, with thoughtful landscaping, had an audience in Northampton. All units sold as soon as they were available.

The lot housing DC Station was previously the site for a gas station and used car lot, Pleasant Journey. “Kuhn Riddle Architects and Berkshire Design Group developed a plan to turn a barren parking lot into a vibrant addition to the Northampton gateway district,” Volz said. “This project incorporates many of the city’s sustainability goals. Keiter was hired as the general contractor in 2024 and has since been diligently at work developing the site and constructing a 4,800-square-foot, energy efficient building.” 

The Planning Board unanimously approved Volz’s project in June 2024. 

The modern DC Station faces Fulton Street, with access to charging and parking on Conz and Pleasant Street; the Level 3 chargers supplied by Lynkwell will soon be installed and are expected to be operational on Oct. 4.

“Level 3 are fast chargers that put out more electricity and cut charge time to 30 to 60 minutes,” Volz explained. “It’s really a game changer for people traveling long distances or for those who don’t have access to a home charger.” 

Volz has been an EV owner since 2016, and through ownership, became acutely aware of the limitations of the public charging infrastructure. 

“The DC Station concept was developed through answering the question, ‘As a customer, what would I want to see in an EV charging station?’” Volz said. “It was easy to come up with a list: multiple ports of Level 3 chargers, solar arrays to help offset the electrical needs, good coffee, healthy food options, a modern design for the building, a high-efficient HVAC system, native plants used in the landscaping, bike racks and clean bathrooms.” 

EV Base Camp is a new addition to Volz’s list for businesses at DC station. He is partnering with Greg Goff on that venture. “Greg has a passion for EVs and has extensive knowledge on all things related to EVs.  In addition he has worked with private clients to assist them in finding the right EV for their particular needs,” Volz said. “Through that, he has developed working relationships with many of the local EV dealers.”

EV Base Camp will offer a central place in the region for resources and information on EVs, including information on new and used vehicles; the ins and outs of charging; financing and rebate options; maintenance questions; and information on planning a trip to reduce “range anxiety.” Base Camp also plans to add an “EV of the Week” component in which interested parties can schedule a test drive from the site in that week’s featured EV.

A firm believer in the need to reduce carbon emissions, Volz hopes to expand ownership of EVs in the region. “If the transition to EVs is going to happen, people need to have access to Level 3 chargers. That’s critical,” added Volz, who drives a Hyundai Ionic 5 with a charge range of about 320 miles.

For leasing, contact Bolotin at ben@regionco.com or 413-415-1200.

For information on EV Base Camp, contact greg@evbasecamp.com.

To learn more about DC Station, contact info@thedcstation.com.

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Patria will offer fine dining with a relaxed and casual approach

NORTHAMPTON—Aaron Thayer, a chef with experience at exclusive, fine dining establishments in Boston and San Francisco—and at Coco & the Cellar Bar in Easthampton—will open a restaurant called Patria in Thornes Marketplace with his business partner and wife, Abby Fuhrman.

Patria will be located on the basement level in the space formerly occupied by ConVino, which closed in August 2019.

Thayer and Fuhrman expect to open Patria in the spring of 2020. Currently, they are renovating the dining room and kitchen to create a more functional flow and enhance the décor with new furnishings and lighting.

Key in creating a new workflow is a restructuring of the dining room and kitchen to account for the fact that Patria will be focused more on food service, whereas ConVino’s emphasis, as a wine bar, was on beverage sales. “We want to increase usable space,” Thayer said. 

Thayer said Patria will offer fine dining with a relaxed and casual approach. “We don’t want to seem elitist or exclusive,” he said. “We’re taking the things I’ve learned about fine dining and translating them to a more approachable dining experience.”

Patria will specialize in large, family style roasts, fresh pastas, and vegetable dishes that will all be sharable. 

“We’ll start out with a recognizable menu to gain trust and build comfort. As people get to know us, we’ll expand peoples’ palates and bring in some more unique flavors and ingredients,” Thayer said.

Service and quality will be a major focus of the restaurant, and Thayer and Fuhrman will work to create an atmosphere that is comfortable and adventurous. Thayer will use as much local produce and other ingredients as is possible.

Thayer, 32, and Fuhrman, 29, live in Northampton. 

Thayer grew up in Hadley and knew he wanted to be a chef when he was a child. He has an associate degree in culinary arts and a bachelor’s in food service management from Johnson & Wales University. 

He has worked at Mooo, a high-end steakhouse in Boston; at Clio in Boston, featuring chef Ken Oringer; at the French restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, California, with three-star chef Dominique Crenn; and he helped Crenn open a second restaurant, Petit Crenn. 

After working with sous chef Michael Tusk at Quince, Thayer returned to this area with Fuhrman in 2017 and worked at Coco & the Cellar Bar for 18 months.

It was his work at Clio with Japanese, Chinese and Korean ingredients—such as bonito flakes, seaweed, and shiso—that Thayer formed the basis of what he now considers to be his style. He said patrons of Patria can expect some of that Asian flair.

Fuhrman is a licensed clinical social worker with eight years in the field. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Simmons University and a bachelor’s in social work from Skidmore College. She works at Cutchins Programs for Children and Families, doing in-home therapy. 

While Thayer was helping to launch Petit Crenn, Fuhrman worked as a reservationist at the new restaurant, making reservations, planning parties, serving as a liaison with various vendors and filling the role of hostess. 

“I latched onto the service aspect of restaurants, marrying my social work knowledge with hospitality, in terms of managing people,” she said. “Aaron and I worked well together.”

At Patria, Fuhrman will take on managerial duties and oversee staff concerns.

Previously, Thayer and Fuhrman planned to open a restaurant in Easthampton called Hunt and Gather. They bought property at 77 Union St., which formerly housed a florist shop, in August  2018. 

Because they were changing the use of the structure, the renovation estimates from contractors were cost-prohibitive. The two still own the building, leasing apartments on the upper floors. They are seeking a commercial tenant for the storefront space. 

“We are pleased to welcome Abby and Aaron to the Thornes community,” said Thornes Co-President Richard Madowitz. “We look forward to dining with them, and we are pleased to be able to offer another attractive dining option to residents of the Valley.”

To learn more about Thornes Marketplace, visit thornesmarketplace.com.

Thornes Marketplace has been the cornerstone of downtown Northampton and at the center of the Main Street shopping district for more than a century. Built in 1873, it holds 55,000 square feet of space for merchants and includes features like pressed tin ceilings and hardwood floors.

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Two hundred people to bounce basketballs from the Boys & Girls Club to the new center

WEST SPRINGFIELD—Led by a Basketball Hall of Famer, 200 people dribbling basketballs will march from the Boys & Girls Club of West Springfield to Union Street on Saturday, Oct. 14 as the West Springfield High School band plays Florence Bank’s “Always” song.

In an event aptly dubbed the Florence Bank Dribble Parade, bank and city leaders and area residents will celebrate the opening of the bank’s new Hampden County Banking Center at 1010 Union St.—the bank’s first branch in Hampden County. At the same time, it will also honor its partnerships with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Boys & Girls Club. A rain date is set for Oct. 15.

The parade and grand opening event will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, where Florence Bank President and CEO John Heaps Jr. will speak and present club leaders with a gift of $50 per participating dribbler, up to $10,000. The parade, led by a surprise Hall of Famer, will then step off into Main Street from the club at 12:30 p.m. and proceed down New Bridge Street to the banking center.

Up to 200 people will each dribble an Under Armour basketball, purchased locally at psi 91 in Springfield for the event, without stopping on the .6-mile parade route. Children interested in dribbling in the parade are invited to register to take part in the event at www.florencebank.com/dribble; registrations will be capped at 200, and each child will receive a free basketball.

Dribblers must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult. All dribblers should arrive at the West Springfield Boys and Girls Club, at 615 Main St., West Springfield, at 11:30 a.m. to check-in and receive their basketballs.

Mayor Will Reichelt and other West Springfield leaders are expected to march in the parade and take part in the festivities at the banking center, which will include face painting, games, basketball competitions, and demonstrations by the Court Jesters, a comedic basketball troupe. Two food trucks, the Bistro Bus and Log Rolling, will provide meals.

“This festive celebration will honor our new branch and its employees, as well as the important relationships we have created and nurtured in Hampden County,” Heaps said.

Florence Bank opened its new, full-service Hampden County Banking Center on Aug. 24, prompted to expand into Hampden County by the mergers and buyouts that have defined the banking landscape in past years, leaving Springfield without a community bank headquartered there.

The Dribble Parade and celebration comes one month after a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the branch on Sept. 14 with Heaps, bank staff and community leaders in attendance to officially commemorate the opening of the bank’s 10^th branch.

In 2007, Florence Bank opened a loan production office in West Springfield, the success of which is responsible for transforming the bank’s total commercial loan portfolio to more than 36 percent from Hampden County-based businesses. That success also made clear the need for the full-service branch.

In the next three to five years, Florence Bank plans to open additional branches in the Greater Springfield area.

All of Florence Bank’s products and services will be offered through the center, located at the corner of Memorial Avenue and Union Street in one third of a 9,000-square-foot plaza that will also hold other commercial tenants.

The Hampden County Banking Center has eight employees including: Branch Manager Maureen Buxton; Assistant Branch Manager Stephanie Moore; Commercial Lenders James Montemayor and Henry Downey; Mortgage Loan Originator Susan Seaver; and John Ernst of Florence Bank’s Financial Group, who will be available by appointment.

Florence Bank has branches in Amherst, Belchertown, Easthampton, Granby, Hadley, Northampton and Williamsburg and is headquartered in Florence.

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