BELCHERTOWN — Two months after the Select Board voted to demolish the longtime State Street home of the Belchertown Family Center, volunteers and parents who use the center are frustrated with the decision and have asked the board to change its mind and authorize repairs.
Not only do committee members who run the Family Center say they were not informed in advance about the Select Board’s discussions on the future of the 51 State St. building, but they also claim that estimates pegged at $485,000 for renovations are inflated.
“My understanding is that other committees are informed when they have items (concerning them) that are going before the Select Board. We did not,” said Natasha Martin, chair of the Family Center Committee.
At least 10 representatives from the committee and the public attended a Nov. 20 Select Board meeting, both in person and virtually, to advocate for the space, which Family Center volunteers deem essential to programs and services. The Family Center Committee issued a proposal to the board requesting $250,000 to fix the roof, as well as heating and air conditioning systems, rather than demolishing the building.
“We are here today because I don’t feel like we have had the opportunity to be heard on the destruction of our building,” Martin said during the meeting. “Our community is devastated by the loss of our ability to function. We don’t have a place to run programs.”
However, while Select Board members said they are committed to helping the Family Center find a new home, they said they will not revisit the decision to demolish the structure.
The Family Center is a nonprofit organization that offers services and play spaces for families with young children. The center started in 1998 as a once-pa-week playgroup run out of a church basement, and has since expanded to five days a week. The center also ran music programs, car seat safety check programs, and a community closet filled with toys, diapers and books.
The committee’s pitch to the Select Board noted that the Family Center serves a key need in town, reminding the board that ages 0-5 is the most critical development period in a person’s life. The document recounts the success of the organization’s after-school play groups, car seat safety inspection events and winter clothing swaps.
“We had to shut down out community closet,” Martin said. “We had 50 to 75 people in and out of the building yesterday in under two hours to clear out community closet. It’s clearly needed in this community.”
In addition to asking for funds to fix the roof and the HVAC systems, Family Center was seeking custodial services, pest control and preventive maintenance for the building to ensure it’s safe for families and children.
The Select Board voted to demolish the building in October after the board was unable to identify grants or funding for repairs.
The Family Center wrote a “wish list” of items to repair in the 38-year-old structure, including bathroom renovation, external siding repair and replacement for windows and doors. Town Administrator Steve Williams took this list to the town’s architect, who estimated the total renovations would cost $485,000.
However, Martin said only the roof and the HVAC systems need urgent repair. Belchertown citizen Sean Donovan, a contractor, said the building does not need $100,000 in window and door replacement to operate.
“I know this building can be fixed for a lot less than half a million dollars; that number is just astronomical. The play groups that happen there, they’re a life-saver for parents,” Donovan said at the meeting.
“So many children of this community who aren’t here have so many memories in that building.”
Select Board Chair Ed Broscher said the board could not comment at the meeting because the topic was not on the agenda. When Select Board Member asked to put the item on a future agenda, Broscher denied the request.
“This topic has been talked about for at least six months. It’s public record, these are all things we’ve talked about in the past. We’re moving forward,” Broscher said.
Broscher affirmed the Select Board remains committed to the Family Center and will look for a new space for the nonprofit.
“The Select Board remains unanimously committed to the Family Center mission and will continue to work on a safe space to continue their activities.
“The town-owned building on the other hand was voted to be demolished for a number of safety, repair, and maintenance cost issues,” he said.
Family Center Committee member Jennifer Whitehead said miscommunication between the Select Board and the Family Center Committee prevented Family Center volunteers from advocating for the building prior to the vote. She found out about the demolition from a newspaper article, after the Select Board’s decision had been finalized.
Town committees, like the Family Center Committee, must receive notice when an item on the Select Board agenda involves a certain committee. Whitehead asked the town clerk for any record of a message about discussion of the demolition of 51 State St., but couldn’t find the email.
“We’re all full-time working parents ourselves. We were relying on the correct lines of communications and someone to invite us to a meeting rather than having to check the agenda and see if there was anything that we needed to be concerned about,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead also said that the Select Board doesn’t know how popular the Family Center is within the community. One Select Board member she spoke with after the meeting thought only two children attend play groups. Yet one weekend music event drew 100 people, packing the parking lot with cars. The community closet event attracted enough families to line cars out to the street.
“The people that are affected the most by this are people that have young children. Their lives are already so busy; they have a hard time paying attention to what’s going on,” Whitehead said. “Many people said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t come to these meetings because it’s bedtime.’ ”
The future of the Family Center remains unknown, as Martin said it’s very difficult to host play groups without a permanent space.
The committee can continue winter gear swaps in other locations, but their main programs require space to store supplies. Play groups are offered Amherst, South Hadley and Easthampton can serve as an alternative option while the Family Center Committee decides how to continue.
“We have a group of folks that are committed to trying our best to build whatever we are able to build with the family center,” Martin said. “We are trying to post as many updates to the Facebook page as we can, but its slow going.”
Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.
