EASTHAMPTON — City officials are inviting the public to view Easthampton’s three former elementary schools on Monday in an effort to gather ideas for their future use.
The site visit was organized by the City Council’s Property Committee and will begin at Neil A. Pepin School, 4 Park St., at 6 p.m. followed by tours of the adjacent Center School and Maple Street School at the other end of downtown.
Precinct 1 Councilor James “J.P.” Kwiecinski, who chairs the Property Committee, said at the July 6 City Council meeting that while the agenda for the visit was ambitious, he was hopeful it could all be accomplished over the course of one meeting.
“This will enable folks to put their eyeballs on the buildings,” said Kwiecinski. “I would ask as many councilors as possible to attend.”
The School Committee voted April 12 to declare the properties surplus and transfer them to the City Council. Since then, the schools have closed their doors, and hosted two “closing house” events in June to allow the community to officially bid farewell to the buildings.
In the fall, students and staff from the former elementary schools will join others who have already moved in from the former White Brook Middle School to start the school year at Mountain View School.
The Planning Department, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle’s office and others have been preparing for the reuse of the school properties since 2018, said City Planner Jeff Bagg.
At the end of May, the Planning Department submitted a draft request for proposal (RFP) package associated with the reuse of the city’s three school properties. Initially, the city’s hope was to have the RFP released in late summer to coincide with the schools becoming vacant as of July, he said.
Bagg said that the draft RFP has been prepared over the last year through a public process with the Elementary School Reuse Committee, which consists of residents along with representatives from the Historical Commission, Affordable Fair Housing Partnership, Council on Aging, and Economic Development and Industrial Committee.
“The overarching goal of the RFP is to seek the redevelopment of the schools as affordable housing,” he said. “This goal became more acute as a result of the pandemic and upon completion of the Housing Production Plan.”
The way the draft RFP is currently structured, affordable housing is the only required element. Other elements that were identified through community engagement include public parking, a public park/playground at each site and/or preservation of the Pepin gym are described as desirable “community benefits,” but are not required of a prospective developer.
The RFP is also assembled so that a potential developer could bid on one property or all, said Bagg.
“We want to avoid someone just picking the easiest property to redevelop and leave the others aside,” he said.
Among the three properties, Bagg said that Center School might be among the “easier” of the three properties to convert to housing as it’s a square building, whereas Pepin School may be more difficult because it’s a very large building that is split-level with a gymnasium and cafeteria.
“It’s always been used as a school, so converting it into housing would take a significant investment,” he said.
In March, Wilbraham real estate appraisal firm Crowley & Associates inspected the three buildings to provide an opinion of their market value.
The firm appraised Center School, which was originally constructed in 1902 and has had renovations and updates throughout the years, at $340,000.
Pepin School, which was originally constructed in 1912, with extensive renovations completed in 1989, and Maple Street School, which was constructed in 1896, were both appraised at $600,000.
Bagg cautioned against opting to sell the properties off for $600,000.
“We will likely only get market-rate apartments developed, which does not meet our community goals,” he said.
Bagg said the likelihood of someone trying to buy these properties to convert them into a bar, a bowling alley, or any other entertainment-related venue is not economically viable.
“The reality is, to make these buildings into anything other than a school is going to cost millions,” he said.
“In terms of the potential for the city to sell the buildings for a profit, we need to be reasonable and understand the significant amount of investment the properties will require,” Bagg said. “These are not three single-family homes that are going to yield a bidding war — these are three large, old and inefficient buildings that need millions in investment to be brought up to current codes.”
In 2021, the city completed an update to its Housing Production Plan, which details a collection of demographic and housing information and guide for the construction of affordable housing in Easthampton. The plan identified that 58% or 4,218 households, live in owner-occupied units and 42% or 3,074 households, are renters.
The plan also identified the three schools as suitable for affordable housing, said Janna Tetreault, chairperson of the city’s Affordable and Fair Housing Partnership.
“We’ve been hearing more and more in the city that affordable housing is something the community values and sees as a need for the city,” said Tetreault. “This is a great opportunity to take city-owned parcels and produce affordable housing.”
City Council President Homar Gomez, who also serves on the Property Committee, commended the work of the Elementary School Reuse Committee and said that the Property Committee is currently reviewing the RFP. Kwiecinski has indicated that the site visit is not a meeting intended for discussion, just an opportunity to see the properties firsthand.
“As a member of the Property Committee, I am committed to making the best decision based on what the community needs to see done with those three buildings. … We will evaluate if it is consistent with what our community needs,” said Gomez.
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.
