NORTHAMPTON — Five Hampshire County communities and Holyoke have landed grants totaling more than $5.1 million from the state’s Community One Stop for Growth grant program.
Administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the program funds economic development projects related to planning and zoning, site preparation, building construction and infrastructure.
The grants locally include $1.55 million for Holyoke spread across six projects, about $1 million each for Northampton (three projects) and Amherst (four projects), $927,000 for Cummington (two projects), $350,000 for Belchertown (four projects) and $175,000 for Easthampton (one project).
In addition to Valley Community Development’s $830,000 grant (See accompanying story, A1), other One Stop grants for Northampton include $250,000 for the city to make site and infrastructure improvements to support affordable housing at up to four properties in the city, and $2,500 to Forbes Library for the design to support electrical service and a performance stage to hold community outdoor events. The west lawn of Forbes Library is used for community programs, but without any infrastructure support, the types of events are limited.
In Cummington, the town will get $882,000 to help replace existing deformed and undersized infrastructure for the Stage Road Culvert, which is currently a public safety risk.
The town will also receive $45,000 for a feasibility study to determine the work needed to bring a mostly vacant elementary school building into code compliance for reuse. Town officials envision using the old school building as a new center of town government, regional food incubator, business rental space and preschool/day care facility. Plans call for making the space more energy-efficient, and potentially replacing the oil-burning furnaces with a more efficient heating and cooling system.
The town of Belchertown received $250,000 from the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund to remediate the site around the power plant at the former Belchertown State School, now known as Carriage Grove. The power plant includes a boiler house and chimney stack.
The town also received $45,000 to hire a consultant to complete a new housing master plan. The plan will incorporate public engagement, review of progress in local housing since the last housing plan, and analysis of current trends and future housing needs. The goal is to provide a comprehensive housing analysis with specific action recommendations.
Meanwhile, the Belchertown Community Alliance Inc. landed two grants totaling $55,000 for a project in partnership with the town to reutilize 6 Bershire Ave., once a dorm on the former Belchertown State School campus. The project will create a new cafe, food services incubator, community meeting and gallery space, as well as affordable and convenient commercial space for creative businesses. The money will also be used to complete a building assessment.
Easthampton secured $175,000 to create a master plan and access way improvements for the Pleasant Street Mills neighborhood. This work would support the activation of roughly 650,000 square feet of mill space.
Amherst
The town of Amherst secured three grants:
■A $755,000 MassWorks grant to fund infrastructure improvements necessary to widen and repave Route 9, replace 1,000 linear feet of sidewalk on both sides of the route, and construct new bike lanes, drainage and sidewalks.
■A $250,000 grant to build an 8-foot-wide walkway, roughly 510 feet in length, along the east side of the town common. This section of sidewalk would improve access by connecting the Spring Street parking lot to a newly planned performance space, and to the one of the busiest bus stops in downtown.
■ A $75,000 grant to develop streetscape standards for downtown Amherst. This project will complement a separate town project developing design standards and dimensional regulations for privately developed spaces in downtown zoning districts.
The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce also secured $5,000 to partner with the town, the Mill District in North Amherst, and businesses of South Amherst’s Pomeroy Village to implement a placemaking and common space project that will include plantings, picnic tables, and Adirondack chairs in village centers to create outdoor gathering space in the neighborhood business districts of South and North Amherst.
In Holyoke, Way Finders Inc. secured $900,000 for the second phase of construction of the Library Commons affordable housing development downtown. Funds will be used for a portion of the renovation of a vacant brick building at 213 Chestnut St. The renovated building will create five one-bedroom, five two-bedroom, and two three-bedroom units.
Meanwhile, El Punto Paper City LLC will get $260,000 to address major damage to 144 High St., which is being renovated and reactivated as the new home of Paper City Clothing Co., a destination retail shop and art gallery staffed by local youth. A smaller storefront unit will be leased to another local business, and renovations to the second floor will add a residential unit to downtown.
Other grants in Holyoke went to:
■EforAll/EparaTodos Holyoke, which gets $100,000 to provide technical assistance to existing businesses struggling with challenges as a result of the ongoing pandemic.
■New England Farm Workers’ Council will get $15,000 to study the feasibilty of a collaborative workspace/small business incubator for 225 High St.
