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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor CHICOPEE The Diocese of Springfield and Elms College announced on June 23 that Holyoke Catholic High School would be re-located to a permanent new home at the site of the former Assumption School in Chicopee. The school will be a separate entity from the College, Diocese Spokesman Mark Dupont explained, but will be made financially possible through a partnership with the College. Dr. James Mullen, president of Elms College, said that now there is an agreement in the location of the high school the work begins on the details of the partnership. Mullen envisions an "early college" program at the school that would allow for qualified students to earn college credits. Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette said that when he took office he knew there was going to be two new high schools in the city, not three. He noted there will now be a Catholic education center that will provide students with an education from pre-school and elementary the Holy Name School to high school and college. In addition, he said the new high school would "lend a lift to revitalize downtown." It will take two years to do all of the brick and mortar work as well as the curriculum work, Dupont said. The plan is to renovate the existing school building and to demolish the convent building next to it. On the site of the convent will be built an additional school building with a bridge to the original building. The new building will have an elevator to make the school compliant with building codes for the disabled. Dupont said the cost of developing the site was the most affordable of the sites considered by the Diocese's Committee of the Whole. The cost is expected to be just under $9 million, although Dupont said that $3 million has already been spent in improvements to the present location of the school, the former St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby. In all, the final price should be about $12 million. The funds that were raised for a new Holyoke Catholic High School will be used for this new project only with permission of the people who gave the money, Dupont explained. That fund was set up to build a new high school specifically in Granby and the monies will be either refunded or given over to a new purpose with the direction of the benefactors. Dupont described the new school project as "relatively cheap" because the school will be making use of Elms facilities. He noted the science labs, the library, the athletic facilities and the theater at the College will be shared with the high school. The Diocese does not own the Assumption school building or convent and Dupont said that the Diocese will pay the "fair market price" of the properties to the parish. Mullen said that he and the entire Elms community is "tremendously excited" about the new high school and the model it could provide for the future of Catholic education. |