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Date: 10/5/2021
HADLEY – Community members of Hadley gathered the morning of Sept. 30 to celebrate the opening of the Hadley Public Library, the Senior Center, and the new fire station. The ceremony took place in the parking lot in between the new library and Senior Center on Middle Street and was capped off with a ribbon cutting to officially open the new public spaces.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito was in attendance and spoke to the public on behalf of the state to commemorate the accomplishment the town of Hadley has pulled off with their new municipal buildings. Polito gave credit to the community for putting together a plan and executing it all with their own tax dollars.
“When we [Gov. Charlie Baker and Polito] came into office in 2014, we knew it would be one of the highest priorities of our administration to empower local officials and communities of our Commonwealth,” Polito said. “There are no state resources associated with the construction of these buildings. This is your funding. This was your vision and your treasure as individual taxpayers to see this come through.”
State Rep. Dan Carey, a big supporter of community projects such as this, was also in attendance and spoke to the public.
“We know libraries, senior centers, our public safety – how important they are to our communities. And they’re important to our communities because of that word, ‘community.’ They bring people together,” Carey said.
Carey gave credit to the community itself and their institutions for their management of this project throughout the pandemic and the awareness of what is important within Hadley.
“Even when we were all stuck in our homes we were on the phone, we were on Zoom, we were still connecting with people through our libraries, through our senior centers, through our public safety offices. We knew we could go to those places for trusted information because we’ve always known we can go to these places for trusted information. So, it’s no surprise to me that the people of Hadley have invested in these trusted places,” Carey said.
Current Town Manager Carolyn Brennan has been the point on the project since the beginning of the year, taking over for former Town Manager Dave Nixon, who was in charge before retiring late last year.
Brennan, thankful for the mentor Nixon was to her in transition of town manager, “took the baton” down the stretch to close out the team project at last. With her as the lead and the community members coming together in joint effort to pull this off, Hadley was able to debut the three completely new buildings.
“It’s unheard of, especially a community of this size. It just shows you the support of the residents who felt all three of these buildings were important. “We’re at the final part of coming over the finish line. Today we want to recognize and thank all of the parts of this team involved with each building,” Brennan said.
“What an amazing day. A small town of 5,000 residents building three buildings all at the same time … it’s an amazing accomplishment and once again Hadley punches well above its weight,” Nixon expressed to the community.
City Select Board member Jane Nevinsmith gave credit to the seniors of the community for working towards the new municipal building and getting what they wanted in the Senior Center.
“A great amount of energy was put forth by folks who mostly stay in the back of the political seat, so thanks to the seniors for their involvement,” Nevinsmith said. She also credited Hadley seniors for leading what she called a “movement of the seniors to request and fight for what was well due to them as longtime residents and taxpayers of Hadley.”
The addition of the new fire station will give Hadley firefighters state of the art equipment and a much-needed upgrade into a new facility after previously spending close to 70 years in the last fire station that was showing its age.
“It used to be a school and was converted by volunteers of the original Hadley Hook-and-Ladder No. 5,” Fire Chief Mike Spanknebel said of the old fire station’s history. “We did the best we could with what we had. Now we are in a state-of-the-art building. There’s room for growth, we built it for the next 100 years.”
The new fire house will also have a fully operating back up dispatch center in it for situations when the main station is down, according to Spanknebel.
Select Board member Joyce Chungalo expressed her excitement of being able to get the Hadley Fire Department a new facility.
“They have really stepped up to the plate on so many different levels. They’ve worked with the community, with the library, with the seniors, our school departments, so they’re people that you really want to support and do as much as you can for,” Chungalo said.
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners member Les Ball was also in attendance and spoke to the crowd and left them with a quote from science fiction author Isaac Asimov that summed up why he works with cities and towns like Hadley in bringing in better resources for public libraries.
“Congratulations on the new library, because it isn’t just a library. It is a spaceship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and far future, a teacher that knows more than any human being, a friend that will amuse you and console you – and most of all, a gateway, to a better and happier more useful life,” Ball said.