Uniroyal building to be ‘mothballed’ for future

CHICOPEE – The City Council affirmed Mayor Richard Kos’s plan to “mothball” the Uniroyal Administration Building for future redevelopment rather than demolish it at the Jan. 20 meeting.

Kos had requested $185,000 to undertake a closing of the building by sealing the roof and installing plywood over the open windows.

 

The alternative the mayor had told the council was to spend a total of $800,000 to take down the building.

The only vote against the plan was from Councilor Adam Lamontagne who said, “Everyone I’ve spoke to all want the building to come down.”

Two of the people who addressed the council during the public speak-out portion of the meeting also urged it demolition.

Councilor John Vieau said the council has been told the “building has a very good set of bones” and “has a good future for redevelopment.”

Vieau also pointed out that demolishing the building would yield less than an acre of land for development.

Councilor Tim McLellan, who had sent the issue to committee for further discussion, said he had been convinced by what he heard from engineers.

“I was, like, tear it down,” he said.

What he didn’t realize is the building would qualify for state and federal historic tax credits. He now supports saving the building for a future use.

Councilor James Tillotson said, “We got the chance to do something really great with this building.” He added the factory building behind the administration building should be taken down to provide potential parking space for the reuse of the administration building.

In other action, the council approved the appropriation of $44,652 to purchase a new police cruiser. A 2013 Ford Taurus cruiser had been involved an accident on Nov. 23, 2014 and was deemed a total loss by the city’s central maintenance garage.

Although the council’s vote was unanimous, especially since it learned the police department has fewer cruisers than it should, Tillotson said, “These SUVs are not cheap.”

Tempers flared during what one might assume would be a routine vote for several requested handicapped parking spaces. Two of the people asking for the spaces went before the council during the public speak-out and stated the reasons they need such a space.

The council’s Ordinance Committee had issued a report to deny all the requests based on the analysis of the city engineer and the Commission for the Disabled.

Tillotson said he was “embarrassed” that the two residents came down to the meeting to plead their cases. He implied the ward councilor should have prevented it from happening and was “politicizing” the process.

Lamontagne, the councilor in question, denied that he had encouraged either resident from appearing. He stated he believed the spaces were “legitimate and necessary “ and noted both women have “legitimate medical conditions.” He also questioned the role of the council and asked if their job was to help people.

Councilor Frank Laflamme noted that many people have requested such spaces and they’ve been denied.

“Unfortunately, we have the rules to follow and the standards to follow. We have to follow the guidelines.”

The council denied the request for the spaces.

The council did approve an expense of $10,000 to purchase tablets for their use.

Vieau said using tablets to display the council’s documents is “going to save the city in the long run.”

McLellan, who had been urging the use of the tablets said, “It only took me eight years to get the council into the next millennium.”