Regarding the news article “Picture Main Street groups mobilize,” (Gazette, July 2), rather than repeating the many flaws in Picture Main Street, let’s consider a specific example of City Hall fallibility that happens to border Main Street. Whenever I am stuck at the Elm-West Street intersection (frequently), I glare at the “Hulk on the Hill” (aka the former First Baptist Church) behind its chain link fence and forbidding signage. It is outwardly unchanged since June 8, 2023 — over two years ago — when the city paid Eric Suher $3.175 million, promising to convert it into a community “resilience hub.” Great concept; but wrong property, location, and price.
In a letter dated Nov. 17, 2022, the city informed its selected appraisal firm in East Longmeadow that “We have signed an option to purchase the building for $3.3 million.” Actually, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra did not sign an option until Dec. 9, 2022 after the city received the appraisal for exactly that price on Dec. 1 and Mr. Suher’s bid was opened the next day. No evidence appears that the city — the only buyer on the horizon — tried to negotiate a lower price for the benefit of its taxpayers.
In April, 2024, a group of concerned citizens commissioned an independent reappraisal by Colliers Valuation and Advisory Services in Boston that determined that the property’s fair market value as of the date the city bought it was actually $1.6 million, or less than half what the city paid. The city now owns a very expensive white elephant at the most hazardous intersection in downtown — with no elevator and only four off-street parking spaces.
The city administration responsible for that fiasco is still in office. Should there be any confidence that Picture Main Street won’t be a much larger disaster for downtown and the city’s tax base and reputation?
Rutherford H. Platt
Florence