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Date: 1/31/2023
HADLEY – Members of the Russell School Committee appeared before the Hadley Select Board at the board’s Jan. 18 meeting to present the results of their recent survey. The survey asked Hadley residents and other nearby locals what they think should be done with the Russell School building. Following the discussion, the board voted to allow the committee’s process to continue, ultimately planning to put the item on the warrant for the spring Town Meeting.
Committee Chair Courtney Meyer explained how the survey was distributed to respondents using a variety of different channels, saying that they received 562 responses in total.
“The Russell School survey that we put together was distributed to the community via posters in local businesses and municipal buildings, the Nov. 1 water bill, Hadley-specific social media groups and through the efforts of community members sharing their survey with their networks. In all, we received 562 responses, and we also held a forum in November to walk through the survey and answer questions that the community had,” Meyer said.
According to the results, 277 respondents felt it was “very important” to stabilize the Russell School Building, while 125 felt it was “somewhat important,” and 150 felt it was “not important.” Forty-five percent of respondents strongly supported stabilizing the building using Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds and 22 percent somewhat supported it. Forty-three percent “strongly supported” rehabbing the building and retaining it for town use, and this was “somewhat supported” by 24 percent as well. Eighty-six percent do not support the idea of demolishing the building and selling the land.
Of the 562 responses, 432 came from Hadley residents and 130 came from non-residents. Seventy-two percent of non-residents supported preserving the building, but only 44 percent of Hadley residents supported preservation. The board informed the committee that non-resident data cannot be counted, as only residents can vote in a Town Meeting to approve the CPA funding, but thanked the committee for collecting the data anyways.
Committee member Dan Regish said that the committee feels it has done its job as a far as getting the necessary information to the town in a timely fashion, and that the building is long overdue for a decision as to its fate.
“With the survey results that strongly show that the town is in favor of at least saving or stabilizing the building, as appointed by your board, we felt that we’ve done our due diligence to make sure that that information is coming to town as quickly as possible. We understand that there is opposition to any of this but the building at this point is pass or play. It’s been that way for the past 20 years, but none of this has come up for Town Meeting vote,” Regish said
Regish felt that the people of Hadley will soon expect to be able to vote on the matter due to its urgency.
“Judging by the results of the survey and the fact that the people have done the survey, they’re going to expect that they’re going to be able to be given a choice on this as the stabilization efforts are of a critical nature right now. The pass or play time is now, it’s do or die on this structure which is a major focal point in the center of our town,” Regish said.
The current total cost estimate of the first steps of stabilizing the building is $1,236,000. This includes fixing unstable grades and retaining walls, repairing battered granite, repointing brick and putting in a slate roof. The building will require more work eventually, with things like the gutters and downspouts, east and west portico repair and window and trim repair “in order to keep the building secure,” according to the report. However, the first steps must be completed before moving on to these other matters.
The board passed a motion allowing the process to continue. The matter must be brought before the Hadley Community Preservation Committee, as CPA funding is planned. Then the decision will be put on the warrant for the spring Town Meeting for residents to vote on.