Consolidations would save city money

Date: 7/22/2010

July 21, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE -- Mayor Michael Bissonnette said last week a proposed $75,000 study of the future of the former library building and the City Hall Auditorium is part of a long-range plan to consolidate the city's administrative and financial offices.

The consolidation would save the city money, he added.

The study is undergoing review for approval by the City Council.

Attempting to find a private developer to buy the library for commercial use has not been successful he said. The building has been put out to bid three times. He said the limited footprint of the library makes parking, trash removal and deliveries problematic for a business.

The study will show "physically what can be done [with the library]. That's the most important thing," he said.

Bissonnette said one possibility is to move the School Department out of its headquarters on Broadway and into City Hall. The Auditorium and the fourth floor of the City Hall annex may be the location for the offices.

He believes he current School Department building may be able to be occupied one more year without "hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations."

School Superintendent Richard Rege has presented in the past a plan that would move the department's offices into the Szetela School building. That move is dependent upon a re-organization of the city's school buildings, including the use of the former Chicopee High School as a middle school, Bissonnette said.

The goal of the reorganization would be to heighten efficiency through heating, lighting and maintaining fewer buildings, the mayor said. By putting the School Department into a renovated City Hall, there could be shared administrative resources that could allow "the schools focusing on classes ... With more money in the classroom we all would be better off," he said.

Ideally, he would like to have all city offices in three buildings, including putting all of the public works functions at the Baskin Drive facility.

Although he has been considering these moves for the past two years, he has not moved on it because of the financial climate.

Now he believes with reforms that have been made, "the city is well positioned to manage future requirements."

He is resistant to suggestions to demolish the library building to create more off-street parking. He believes there would be about 20 to 25 spaces created, which wouldn't justify the cost.

He described the library building as "one of the few iconic buildings the city with significant historic value."

He said downtown will have additional parking spaces as the Market Square building will be demolished. A company has been hired for that job and developing the parking lot, Bissonnette added.