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Date: 11/5/2015
CHICOPEE – Gov. Charlie Baker came to Chicopee with good news for that city, as well as Holyoke and Springfield.
Standing with the former Lyman Mills as a backdrop, Baker announced three MassWorks Infrastructure grants. The mayors of all three communities, as well as most of the Hampden County legislative delegation, attended the announcement.
Chicopee will receive $2.6 million to assist in the redevelopment of the mill building in downtown Chicopee to a residential complex with 80 live/work loft apartments.
Baker said the project would be “transformational” for the west end of the downtown neighborhood.
Holyoke would receive $4 million to help fund the redevelopment of the housing at the Lyman Terrace development downtown.
Springfield received $2.77 million to begin the process of making the Six Corners intersection safer.
Baker said the grants are part of his “urban agenda.”
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse called Baker “nothing but a friend to Holyoke, Chicopee and Springfield.”
He explained the Lyman Terrace redevelopment would renovate 167 units of housing in the downtown, improving the housing stock for more than 150 families.
Sarno said the Six Corners project would improve one of the most accident-prone intersections in the city. It is where Hancock, Walnut, Alden and Ashley streets meet. Sarno said the project is in the planning stages and is part of the on-going improvements to that part of the city that was hit by the June 1, 2011 tornado.
Mayor Richard Kos of Chicopee noted the mill building has stood vacant for the past several years. He added the project’s overall cost is $6 million and will produce market rate housing.
State Rep. Joseph Wagner called the mill redevelopment “a cornerstone for economic development for years to come.”
Herbert Berezin, president of Mount Holyoke development, the company that is developing the mill building, believes construction will start sometime in the first half of next year with the project completed in late 2016 or early 2017.