BELCHERTOWN — The Select Board is considering refusing a $1 million state grant to turn the Tadgell School into a mixed-use resilience hub and business space so the town can still sell the building later.
Belchertown received a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness 2.0 grant on Aug. 13 to continue preconstruction design and community outreach for redeveloping the former Belchertown State School nursery at 7 Berkshire Ave. As part of the grant conditions, the Tadgell School would partially serve as a resiliency hub providing essential resources like a kitchen, pantry and showers during an extreme weather event.
In June, Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers, along with engineering company Tighe & Bond, presented a mixed-use building design that combines economic development with community program space. In this design, 40% of the building is designated for resilience hub community resources and program space. The other 60% will be rented out to businesses.
While the Select Board likes the design, the project remains cost-prohibitive. Kuhn Riddle Architects estimated the project at $21-$22 million.
Now, Belchertown stands at a crossroads with the Tadgell School Building. At its Sept. 8 meeting, Select Board members expressed interest in using the grant money to advance the preconstruction plans and use the design to advertise the sale of the property. However, the property is only eligible for the MVP 2.0 grant because of the resiliency hub space. It is unclear whether a buyer who throws out the resiliency hub plans puts the municipality in violation of the grant terms.
“I put a lot of time and effort into that proposal,” Select Board Lesa Lessard Pearson said during a Sept. 8 Select Board meeting, “But the strings attached do not make it feasible.”
Tadgell redevelopment began in 2024 when Belchertown received a $215,000 grant to assess the building’s conditions and decide the structure’s future use. Economic development efforts remain a top priority for the municipality, and Tadgell sits close enough to Carriage Grove to attract new businesses. At the same time, residents have clamored for more community space, which the nearly 40,000-square-foot building supplies in spades.
“We know what the appetite is for spending in the community,” Select Board member Jen Turner said. “But we also need to evaluate what the community appetite is for these types of services that we would like to provide for our residents. It’s a balancing act.”
Public support for the project is limited. A 22 News Report over Labor Day Weekend brought an outpouring of community backlash on social media. Residents expressed confusion and frustration over the onset of another capital project after rejecting plans for a $122.6 million Jabish Brook Middle School building and narrowly passing a controversial $2.9 million Proposition 2-1/2 override.
“They made it very clear they are not going to throw another dime following an override,” Select Board member Nicole Miner said.
Town Manager Steve Williams said the MVP 2.0 funds are not restrictive because the money supports the design of the entire facility and not just the resiliency hub. Pearson was advised by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), a partners on the project, not to take the funds because the grant funds are specifically for a resilience hub.
“I would suggest we do get clarification because that bothers me that we’re hearing two different things,” Williams said.
Turner and Select Board member Jonathon Ritter prefer to accept the funding and continue with preconstruction plans, while Miner and Pearson err on the side of caution. The grant would bring design plans to 50% to 60% complete, reducing future developers’ costs by 10%.
“I don’t think we should refuse the money if we are getting a product more attractive to a potential buyer or partner down the line,” Turner said.
Ritter adds that investing in design while advertising the building for sale gets the property off the town’s hands the fastest. While the foundation, floors and walls are in good condition, multiple roof leaks have introduced water damage and mold.
Belchertown awaits word on a Community One-Stop grant to fix the roof, but the town cannot wait until October to decide, Ritter said.
“The longer we wait on this building, the more it is going to cost us,” he added.
Williams plans to consult PVPC to learn more about the grant conditions. Until then, Belchertown will not sign the paperwork to accept the grant.
