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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor CHICOPEE There was good news for travelers on Friday the Deady Bridge is scheduled to be finished sometime this fall. And there was good news for the supporters of Holyoke Catholic High School on Friday as well the diocese is planning to break ground on the new high school in July with construction completed for the fall of 2008. The status of these two major construction projects in the city was discussed in separate press events. Mayor Michael Bissonnette said the news about the Deady Bridge was "what were hoping to hear." Bissonnette met briefly at the bridge with Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen, who was making a swing through Western Massachusetts to learn first hand of the region's transportation concerns. He was accompanied by State Representative Joseph Wagner (D-Chicopee) who is the chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation. The Deady Bridge project has been held up by the moving of utility lines by Verizon, Bissonnette said. Once Verizon finishes the job, the state-hired contractors can move forward. Cohen said that he had toured the commercial airport adjoining Westover Air Reserve Base and saw there was potential for expansion there. He also said he was a supporter of the proposal to link Hartford and New Haven, Conn., with Springfield with a new commuter rail service. He said such a rail link would give Western Massachusetts similar mass transit benefits the eastern section of the state enjoys. The state needs to "find the wherewithal to do it," he said, noting the price tag for the commuter rail project would be $28 million. On Springfield Street just over an hour later, city and diocesan officials gathered to announce the start of converting the former Assumption parish school into the new home for Holyoke Catholic High School. The addition of a Catholic high school in the area would create a "Catholic education corridor," Bissonnette said. A Catholic education from kindergarten through post-graduate studies would be offered to students in the same basic location. The new high school is about one block from both the Holy Name Elementary School and Elms College. Elms College President Dr. James Mullen, Jr., said the addition of the high school could create a new national model for Catholic education. In previous announcements about the new location of the high school, the high school students would also use some of the facilities of Elms College. Additional discussions have centered on high school students taking classes that would give them college credit. "This is a singular opportunity," said Mullen. Sr. Andrea Ciszewski, FSSJ, Superintendent of Schools for the diocese, said the new school would have a student body of 400 students. Currently about 300 students from 32 communities attend Holyoke Catholic High School in its Granby location. John Harris, the architect for the project, explained the former convent would be demolished so a three-story 30,000 square foot building could be constructed that would be linked to the existing school building. The current building would maintain its original 1954 exterior but would be gutted so a new room layout could be built. The plan calls for the new building to house space for art instruction as well as a community space for art exhibits and other activities. A tower in the center of the new complex would provide an elevator for accessibly to the disabled. Ciszewski said the cost of the new school is $9 million, which has been raised by supporters of the high school and from the fire insurance settlement from the blaze that destroyed the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. When asked if there were any unresolved permitting issues, Bissonnette said, "The project is shovel-ready as far as the city is concerned." Despite the permanent move to Chicopee, the name of the school will remain the same, Ciszewski said, to honor the supporters of the school. |