BELCHERTOWN — The Select Board voted to demolish the old Family Center building this week, unable to come up with $485,000 needed for repairs. The decision leaves the center’s future unknown.
Town Administrator Steven Williams reported at Monday’s meeting that the 51 State St. building did not qualify for a $200,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund.
The building needs a new roof, boiler, windows, external doors, new flooring and air conditioning. Four bathrooms also needed renovations. Williams also noted the estimated cost of a brand new building was $1.4 million.
“We’d have to start at the top and fix the roof, but if we fix the roof, we’ve committed a large chunk of money to the building,” Williams said, adding that the roof alone costs $150,000 to replace. “We’d have to go through the whole building because it wouldn’t make sense to fix the roof and then not be able to occupy the building.”
The Family Center, a nonprofit organization offering services and play spaces for families with young children, operated a playgroup out of the government-owned building. The center started in 1998 as a once-per-week playgroup run out of a church basement, and since then expanded the playgroup to five days a week and added a community closet with toys, diapers, baby chairs and other supplies for new parents.
Family Center Committee Chair Natasha Martin said the roof of the building started leaking about a year ago; water continued to seep into the ceiling despite the town’s efforts to patch up the roof.
The center staff recommended the Select Board close the building on July 24, deeming the space unsafe for children.
“The building at State Street was really ideal because there was a fenced in outdoor space and a swing set,” Martin said. “There’s lots of space to run around, and a garden. So it’s really unfortunate the situation we’re in.”
The Family Center cannot provide services without a physical space, so its future is unclear right now, Martin said. None of the volunteers have been in the building since July 15 for a car seat safety check event
“Already feels like there’s been a bit of a vacuum, I know there are also families who could use things in the community closet and we haven’t been able to open even for that,” Martin said.
The Collaborative Center for Educational Services, which partnered with the Family Center for certain programs, continues to offer a playgroup for families in Belchertown and adjacent towns.
The Select Board will use $50,000 from ARPA funds to pay for the demolition unless the board has surplus money at the end of the year to fund the demolition.
Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com
